


Second Chances of the Soul

by 55artix



Category: Avengers (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/55artix/pseuds/55artix
Summary: Post Endgame Fix-it. Natasha and Tony end up in the soul realm after death. Loki, Gamora, and Vision are also there. After a strange Earthquake occurs on the soul realm, Natasha and Tony find themselves in their past bodies, back during the events of Iron Man 2. Together, they resolve to change the past and fix all their mistakes, and ultimately, stop Thanos.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Pepper Potts & Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanoff & Tony Stark, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Jane Foster/Thor, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Shuri & T'Challa (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

Natasha wandered around the soul world, bored out of her mind. After all, there wasn't much to do there. There was no advanced technology (or any at all for that matter), and no outside threats, just a never ending orange landscape. There were three other people there, including Loki, Vision, and Gamora. She'd gotten to know all of them very well during her time there. Natasha wasn't sure how long she'd been there. There was no concept of time in the soul world, no day and night. She spent most of her days (nights?) there sparring with Gamora, telling stories with Vision, and thwarting Loki's attempts at pranking her.

She often thought about her teammates. No, not just her teammates, her family. She wondered if they'd managed to beat Thanos. God, she hoped so. She thought about Clint, and the dead look in his eyes without his family. Becoming a man full of vengeance and rage, born out of trauma and grief. She thought about all of them, hoping that they'd be able to carry on and finish what they'd started, even without her. She missed them all dearly, but that was a small price to pay to bring them all back. As much as it pained her to admit it, she even missed Tony, with all of his snark and wit, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone...

"Miss me, Agent Romanoff?" A familiar voice asked sarcastically.

"You've got to be shitting me," Natasha muttered. "Seriously, Stark? After my brave and honorable sacrifice, you just had to go and outdo me by getting yourself killed, as well? God, no one else was supposed to die. Also, it sucks that I'll have to share the memorials and shrines of myself with you." Natasha took a breath, and looked Tony in the eye. "It's good to see you, Tony," she said sincerely. Natasha closed the distance between them, and walked over to where Tony was standing, and embraced him. Even in the soul world, he smelled like a mixture of Axe Body Spray, sweat, and motor oil.

"Yeah, well, I was never one to let someone else take the spotlight. I am, after all, Tony Stark: genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, extraordinaire," Tony cheekily responded as he accepted the embrace.

Natasha and Tony spent some time catching up, with Tony filling her in on what had happened on Earth since her death. Natasha couldn't help the tears that built up in her eyes as she listened to Tony. He told her about reuniting with his kid, only to die right in front of him. She was relieved that they'd won, but couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of regret. _If only we could go back one last time, and have a second chance to fix things._

"So...where exactly are we? No offense, Widow, I'm glad you're here and all, but this place doesn't exactly scream 'Heaven' to me," Tony said as his eyes wandered, taking in the endless, orange landscape. He didn't seem too impressed. Not that Natasha could blame him, of course.

"From what I've gathered, we're in the soul world. Loki told me that the stones are sentient, and hold onto the souls of those it feels a strong connection to. It's a way of preserving our...souls? I guess," answered Natasha.

"Wait...Reindeer Games? He's here? What in the world? Now I definitely know that this shithole isn't heaven."

"Oh yeah, I may have forgotten some details about this place. Vision and Gamora are here too," Natasha informed Tony.

"Quill's girlfriend and my robot child? Is that it? And...if they're here, then where the hell are they?" Tony asked, once again glancing around as if expecting them all to appear in midair.

"You know? That's actually a good question. I usually don't go this long without seeing at least one of them. I swear, Loki can't go five minutes without trying to sneak up on me...he fails every time," Natasha smirked.

"You actually hang out with that maniac? Do you not remember the time he invaded New York? Let me refresh your memory, he brought a shitton of aliens to Earth, under Thanos's orders," Tony replied incredulously.

"He's actually not as batshit crazy as we made him out to be. Apparently, the whole alien invasion thing back in 2012 wasn't him at all, it was Thanos. He was being mind controlled the same way Clint was, only, by Thanos. He's still a bit sadistic and annoying though, but I can handle that," answered Natasha, shrugging.

Natasha gave Tony a moment to process the information. It seemed that for the first time since she'd met him, Tony had been rendered speechless (even if it was just for a moment).

"I know, I was a bit surprised when I found out, and I'm supposed to be good at reading people," Natasha admitted.

Tony appeared to have finally found his voice again. "Reindeer Games isn't a complete psychopath? What the hell? Maybe I should've had a drink with him, after all. Nah, he's a bit too flashy and irritating to be friends with me," Tony blurted out. "And if he's anything like his brother, then he'll also have no regard for lawn maintenance. I really don't get why Asgardians-"

Tony didn't get to finish his sentence. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake, and the orange dust blew all around them. The wind was picking up quickly, making it hard for the two of them to stand on their feet. "Uh...Nat? Does this happen often?" Tony asked nervously.

Natasha maintained a poker face, attempting to hide her fear. "No, this hasn't happened before. I wonder if it has something to do with why we haven't seen Vision, Gamora, or Loki for a while."

Suddenly, Tony lost his balance, and the man disappeared into a cloud of orange dust. "STARK!" Natasha screamed. "TONY, COME BACK HERE, YOU ASSHOLE! YOU CAN'T JUST SHOW UP HERE, THEN LEAVE ME LIKE THAT!" Natasha cried, desperately running towards the spot where Tony had vanished. What the hell was happening? Wasn't dying once enough? Was this the universe's way of getting back at her? After all, she'd done some horrible things as an assassin...

Before Natasha knew it, she felt herself being lifted into a pile of orange dust. _I guess I'm going to hell for real this time..._


	2. Natalie Rushman

"It's called dirty boxing, there's nothing new about it," Happy snapped.

 _What is Happy doing here?_ Tony stared into space, taking in his surroundings. He appeared to be in his Malibu mansion, prior to its destruction. The bright sunlight shining through the windows was a stark contrast to the Soul Realm. Tony breathed in a waft of Happy's sweat, and coughed. Everything seemed real...but the question was, why did the afterlife send him back to 2011?

"I promise, this is the only time I'll ever ask you to sign over your company." Pepper's voice dragged Tony out of his stupor. _Pepper? Why is she also here? There's no way she died, too! I saw her alive as she said goodbye..._ Unless...he'd somehow gone back in time. But, why? How?

At that instant, Tony spotted Natasha out of the corner of his eye. He studied her carefully, wondering if she was the Natasha he knew, or the spy parading around as Natalie, trying to extract information from him. Natasha gazed back meaningfully, but, like always, it was impossible to get a read on her.

"Lesson one, never take your eyes off-" Tony turned around and punched Happy in the face before asking Natasha, "Hey, Red! You got a name?"

"Rushman. Natalie Rushman. My friends call me Nat," Natasha responded with a meaningful wink.

Tony breathed in a sigh of relief. This was _his_ Natasha, he didn't know what he'd do if he had ended up stuck in the past all alone. "Well, Miss Rushman, I gotta say, you seem more like a secret agent, rather than a legal representative who models in Tokyo." He figured might as well be annoying with her secret identity. It was only fair to get payback on her, after all, for spying on him in the first place.

Natasha responded with an eye roll, but seemed to feel a sense of relief as well.

Remembering how satisfying it was to watch her take down Happy the first time around, he invited her into the ring, before walking over to Pepper.

Natasha stopped him midway through, and whispered into his ear, "Meet me in your lab after you sign over the company. We have a lot of things to discuss." Tony nodded at her, before continuing to make his way to Pepper. God, Pepper. She was so beautiful and amazing. He was instantly reminded of Morgan, and a bout of sorrow overtook him. _Will Morgan even exist in this timeline if we mess it up? God, I hope so._

"Hey, Pep," Tony leaned in to kiss her.

"Tony, what are you doing?" Pepper asked, taking a couple of steps back.

Tony sheeshily backed away. "You...uh, have something on your shoulder," Tony replied awkwardly, reaching his hand out, and quickly brushing Pepper's shoulder. "All good!" Tony nervously rubbed his chin. Right, they weren't technically dating yet.

"Thanks, Tony," Pepper replied, her eyes boring into his. "Do you know her or something? Natalie? Oh God, did you sleep with her?" Pepper asked, wrinkling her nose.

_Hmmm...is that jealousy I detect? I thought Pepper was the rational one..._

"No! Of course not! I don't even know who she is. Besides, she isn't my type. Why do you ask? It isn't like I was ogling her or anything!" Tony asserted, remembering Pepper's line from the first time around.

"You just...seemed like you knew her from somewhere," Pepper answered, still peering at him suspiciously. "Just...keep in mind that she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you try anything inappropriate."

"Aw, Pep. You underestimate me, sometimes," Tony teased.

Tony gaped at Pepper for a good minute or two, just taking in the fact that she was there with him. He never thought he'd get a chance to see his beautiful wife again, as Tony had never been a religious man who believed in Heaven. _I'm going to be so much better for you this time, Pep. I promise._

There was an audibly loud _BANG_ as Happy was wrestled to the floor. Tony glanced over and saw that he'd been placed into a headlock by a smirking Natasha.

"OH MY GOD, HAPPY!" Pepper exclaimed. Tony just chuckled to himself, and gave Natasha a thumbs up from afar.

"Hey, Happy. Here's a lesson from me. Don't be an ignoramus and assume that an attractive, young woman can't beat your ass," Tony chuckled.

Happy looked like he was trying to glare back at Tony menacingly, but seeing as he was still in a headlock, he just looked rather pathetic.

Natasha shrugged at Happy. "I may have a bit of experience with combat training," she admitted casually. She seemed to have finally decided to show Happy some mercy, offering her hand to help him up.

Happy gawked at her for a moment, before begrudgingly accepting her hand. "I just slipped," he insisted.

"Of course you did," Natasha nodded skeptically. Natasha ignored the disgruntled man, and strutted over to Tony.

"Nice job, Red!" Tony added with a chuckle.

"Mr Stark? I need your fingerprint and signature." Tony nodded at Natasha, and quickly signed in the correct places.

Before Natasha turned to leave, Tony spoke up again, "By the way, you're hired. For the new assistant position."

"Wait...what?" asked a very confused Pepper. "Tony, don't you think that we should at least talk about this-"

"Sounds good, Mr Stark. I'll see you soon." Natasha interrupted. She then gracefully sauntered out, presumably to Tony's lab.

XXXXXXX

Natasha smirked as she "broke in" to Tony's lab. Getting into Tony's lab was so much easier now that she knew all of his security override codes.

Natasha paced around Tony's lab nervously, trying to collect her thoughts. So...she and Tony had gone back in time, that much was obvious. The question was, how and why had it happened? What were they going to change? There were so many variables when it came to messing with time, and they couldn't risk changing things up so much that their foreknowledge became useless.

"Well, Agent Romanoff, you asked to speak with me, and I have generously showed up. It really doesn't happen often, I usually blow people off," Tony said pompously.

"Oh my God, Tony! I swear, out of all the people I had to be stuck in the past with, the universe chose you. I swear, it's like it _wants_ me to suffer," Nat teased. She briskly strode over to Tony and wrapped her arms around the pretentious, but courageous man. "You scared me for a minute there when you disappeared into that orange tornado. Do you try to give the people around you heart attacks?" Natasha hissed in his ear.

"Nah, I just like to make an entrance, and an even grander exit. It's sort of my thing, you know? Also, I feel like we've hugged more in the past day, or however long it's been, than we ever did before we died. You getting soft on me, Agent Romanoff?" Tony ribbed.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Maybe I am. Can you blame me? Half the universe disappeared, and I died trying to bring them back, only to find that you ended up dying too. I think I deserve to be a little softer than the emotionless spy I used to be."

After the two Avengers had finished rearing in their emotions (which took quite a while), Tony began working on synthesizing Starknium. He and Natasha figured that it would be easier if he did not have to deal with the poison the Palladium was causing him. Natasha helped where she could, and the two of them discussed their immediate plans for what they'd change.

"Well I think we first need to focus on taking out Ivan Vanko before Justin Hammer gets his hands on him. We don't need another fiasco with murder bots at your expo again," Natasha suggested as Tony investigated some specs on a hologram.

"Well, how do you suggest we do that? It's not like we can just track him down and murder him right now. He hasn't even done anything yet."

"He and Hammer are both going to be there in Monaco. I can take care of Hammer. I've got some dirt on him that'll have him selling his company, and fleeing to another country. You, on the other hand, are going to build your nanotech suit, and wear it to the event. Go drive that race car like you did last time, then take him down. I'm assuming that it'll be much easier to do with your new tech. After he's been taken into the prison, I can get Fury to take him into SHIELD custody," Natasha responded.

"I'm sorry, are we talking about the same SHIELD that is currently being overrun by HYDRA? Wouldn't this just be giving them another dangerous asset that they can use?" Tony asked.

"I'll admit that it isn't a perfect plan. It is, however, the best thing we can do short of killing him. SHIELD's got more secure containment cells, and Fury has a separate branch of them that even the higher ups don't even know about. If I can convince him to take Vanko in covertly, then no one but Fury, Hill, Barton, and a few others will know where he is. He won't be able to escape in there, all those containment cells are strong enough to hold in the Hulk," Natasha replied.

"Damn, Fury's got his own secret prison? Why am I not surprised?" Tony asked rhetorically.

"Fury isn't exactly a trusting person. I'd wager that he's got more trust issues than you," Natasha answered. "But even with his trust issues, he's always looking for a way to use people, even deceitful ones. For that reason, I'll definitely have to keep an eye on what he does with Vanko. The last thing we need is for Fury to blackmail him into working for SHIELD," the spy added.

"When will people realize that an unwilling ally is a dangerous one?" Tony wondered "For example, getting Zola involved with SHIELD. He was a big part of the whole underground Hydra thing that infiltrated the organization. They really should've realized that it was a bad idea," Tony pointed out.

"I was an unwilling ally to begin with," Natasha countered.

"My point exactly," Tony teased. "Woah, woah, woah, Romanoff. I'm just kidding," Tony backtracked as Natasha glowered at him. "Anyway, that's great for an immediate plan and everything, but what do you think we should do with everything else? I've never been a huge fan of lists and everything but I'm willing to make an exception just this once for the sake of the universe."

Eight hours later, Tony had not only finished synthesizing the element and replacing the palladium core with Starknium, but he'd also finished building his first nanotech suit in this timeline. It was by no means perfect, but given the limited of time he'd had to work on it, Natasha found herself extremely impressed with the man, not that she'd ever tell him that. The man really did not need an ego boost. While he worked, Natasha had made a list of their priorities.

Take care of Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer.

Get Rhodey his War Machine armor.

Find a way to cognitively re-calibrate Loki and hopefully bring him on as an Avenger.

Find Barnes and reverse the mind control.

"We've got to be careful with how we handle this. We can't risk anyone finding out, as that could seriously fuck up everything," Natasha warned Tony.

When Tony failed to respond, she noticed that his hands were no longer busy making last minute adjustments to his suit. Instead, Tony was looking at pictures of a young boy. Peter Parker. Spider-man. Natasha had never met the kid face to face, but she'd exchanged pleasantries with a very starstruck Spider-man before the airport battle. He seemed like a nice kid, and she knew that Tony saw him as a son.

Natasha put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You okay, Tony?"

"I know I can't just knock on his door and go see him...but, I just need to know that he's okay. He was gone for five years... _five years,_ Nat. Then we barely get a five minute reunion, before I'm dying right in front of him? God, I miss the kid so much. He's only around ten years old right now, which is crazy. I didn't even know him back then. I wonder if I should get involved at all, maybe he'd be better off without me interfering," Tony replied sadly.

"From what I've heard, he loved you as much as you loved him. You were a father to him Tony, and knowing you, you care too much to just let it go," Natasha said carefully.

A soothing voice of a British AI interrupted the moment. "Sir? Miss Potts would like me to remind you that your plane to Monaco leaves in an hour," JARVIS informed.

"Man, it is so nice to hear JARVIS again. As much as I love Friday, JARVIS meant the world to me," Tony muttered.

"I do not know who Friday is, but that you Mr Stark. While you are by far one of the most difficult people to assist, I couldn't imagine helping anyone else," Jarvis replied cheekily.

Tony and Natasha laughed. "Wow, you really programmed a snarky AI, Tony," Natasha said, amused.

"Well, better snarky then boring," Tony replied. "Anyway, it's showtime, _Natalie,_ " Tony teased. But despite his best attempts to hide his fear, Natasha could tell that the man was nervous.

XXXXXXXX

The plan with Hammer and Vanko worked like a charm. While Natasha blackmailed Hammer with pictures and voice recordings of him being involved in the deaths of his past business partners, Tony took on Vanko after being confronted on the racetrack. Vanko's primitive technology was no match for Tony's nanotech suit, and Tony defeated him without even getting a scratch. Of course, Natasha still had a few critiques about his fighting tactics (after analyzing the recording on the news), as he seemed to value verbal taunting over efficiency. Tony, of course, just turned her advice into a quipping contest. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Natasha then talked to Fury, confirming that he had managed to get Vanko transferred to his private containment cells, and that no one "untrustworthy" knew about it. She had threatened Fury into not trying to get the man to work for SHIELD, and it had appeared to be relatively successful.

Overall, it looked like their plan was off to a perfect start. Hopefully, it would stay that way…


	3. Months Before the Avengers

"Hey, Tones, you doing alright? I heard what happened in Monaco a couple days ago with that dude with the-" Rhodey stopped mid-sentence when he saw Natasha casually lying on a table in Tony's lab, while Tony made some adjustments to his nanotech armor. Tony supposed that it was a strange sight for anyone who knew him, because despite his public persona, he was actually a very private person. The only people who had access to the lab were those that he trusted most, and his best friend had never seen this woman in his life.

"Oh, hey, Honey-Bear! Just the man I was looking for! I've got a little gift for you, my friend!" Tony replied, not looking up from his work. "And...are you seriously asking me if I'm alright? Did you even see that fight? That dude had nothing on me!" Tony quipped. "By the way, this is Natash-, I mean, Natalie, Natalie Rushman."

"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes," Rhodey introduced himself as he shook Natasha's hand. "What's this I hear about a gift? Also, before I forget, I'm still cleaning up the aftermath from that mess of a hearing. Senator Stern is trying to use your fight with that guy as evidence that people are succeeding in mimicking your technology. He's on my ass to get you to hand it over. I'm trying to get them to settle down, but it is a hard sell when there is evidence of a guy with fully functional techy whiplashes! I don't know what you want me to do, Tony-"

"Woah there, slow your roll, Sour Patch. Is this how people respond to gifts these days, with lectures?" Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not concerned about what some pin stabbing senator thinks of my suits, I've got bigger fish to fry." Tony gestured to a gray and black Iron Man suit, "by the way, that's yours if you want it. As long as you promise not to hand it over to Senator 'Fuck you Mr Stark', or the grubby little hands of any other government officials."

"Are you drunk or high or something? I thought I'd have to steal one of these things and fight you for you to ever let me wear one of these," Rhodey exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Hey, Honey-Bear, I'm going to be serious for a minute. Okay, maybe a few minutes, five minutes maximum. I'd go crazy if I was forced to be serious for longer than that." Tony took a deep breath. "I have a feeling, no, not just a feeling, I know that things aren't going to stay nice for long. There's something bigger out there, and when it comes, we, as in Earth, need the best defenders we can get. Look, I know you probably think I'm just paranoid, but Rhodey, I'm a futurist, I see things. Things and situations that could cost us _everything_ ," Tony sighed before continuing. "I know that I don't say it enough, but you're the best friend that I could ever ask for. No, you're more than my best friend, you're my brother, and one of the best men I know. I trust you more than anything, so...I need you to trust me on this, too. Just, be careful with that suit, and _please_ don't hand it over to anyone...capisce?" Tony asked.

"Okay, Tones, I'll trust you on this. Don't worry, I'll stand with you through whatever comes our way, as long as aliens don't fall out of the sky," Rhodey chuckled. "Also, how did you two meet?" Rhodey asked, gesturing to Natasha and Tony. Rhodey faced Natasha, "I've never seen you before, so forgive me if it's a little weird that you're just casually hanging out in here like chummy old friends. Tony never lets anyone into his lab, even Happy gets locked out of here half the time. Shit, are you two sleeping together?" Rhodey asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I know that I'm an expert playboy, but I am perfectly capable of having female friends for more than their anatomy," Tony protested, fervently denying the accusation.

"Mr Stark and I met while he was signing over his company to Miss Potts. I'm from legal, and he decided to make me his assistant. I needed a new job, so I accepted," Natasha responded.

"Okay...well, that cleared up nothing, but...whatever. Clearly, I'm not going to get a more in depth answer from you guys," Rhodey muttered. "Tones, I swear, you're the most spontaneous person ever. Just always surprising me with random shit. One moment you make a joke out of a hearing, and the next, you're handing me your suit," Rhodey added, shaking his head. "But I'll let this go, because I really do want to try that suit," Rhodey admitted, gaping at the armor longingly.

After some more banter with Tony and Natasha, Rhodey finally tried on the suit. He had an easier time piloting the suit right off the bat, probably due to his military training.

"See, Platypus? You're a natural! What should we call you...Iron Patriot?" Tony snickered, unable to keep a straight face while saying the ridiculous name.

"What? Hell no...that sounds like the name of a boy scout trying and failing to be a badass. My name's War Machine," Rhodey declared proudly.

"Wow...War Machine? You say that like you had that planned out for months," Tony snickered.

"Whatever, man, it's a cool name! Don't come at me like that! It's better than the dumbass 'Iron Patriot' name you came up with!" Rhodey exclaimed.

Tony responded by putting his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, if we're done here, I'm gonna take my new suit for a joy ride," Rhodey waved in the armor, before quickly flying off.

XXXXXXXXXXX

After Natasha left to...forsooth, Tony wasn't really sure what the former assassin did during her free time. But nonetheless, after Natasha left, Tony spent his time spying, no, checking on Peter. After all, it was the correct thing to do, _right_? At the moment, Peter was a fourth grader at Midtown Elementary in the Gifted and Talented Program. Like the little genius he was, he'd already won the school's science fair two years in a row.

As Tony looked through all the photos of Peter that JARVIS could find, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from the kid. Though in this timeline, there was no guarantee that the kid would see him as a father. After all, Uncle Ben was still alive, and Tony would be damned if he let the uncle that Peter loved so much die again. Tony knew that Ben Parker had been killed by a mugger in the Parkers' apartment on December 8, 2015. He had comforted the teen on the two year anniversary of his uncle's death. Tony didn't have a concrete plan yet, but he was planning to find a way to get the Parkers out of their apartment on that fateful night.

Some time after, Tony began to drift off at his desk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Mr Stark? I don't feel so good…_

_I don't wanna go...please sir, I don't wanna go…I don't wanna go..._

_We won, Mr Stark...we won...you did it, sir..._

_I'm sorry, Tony…_

_We're going to be okay, Tony…_

_You can rest now..._

"Tony? Wake up, Tony. You're okay, you're not in Afghanistan anymore, you're home. Tony?" Pepper gently nudged Tony's shoulder.

"Pep? What happened? Where's Peter? Is Morgan here?" Tony asked groggily.

Pepper furrowed her eyebrows, "Who's Peter, and who's Morgan?"

Suddenly the memories of the past few days came rushing back to him. The third snap, his death, the cries of Rhodey, Peter, and Pepper as he passed, _the time travel._ God, he'd really gone back in time and once again, the universe was depending on him. _Shit, I need to breathe._

"Tony? Are you okay? Just breathe with me, okay?" Pepper gently rubbed his arm as she quietly counted to ten.

After Tony calmed down, he couldn't help himself, and hugged Pepper tightly. He'd lost so much, and he needed the reassurance that she was actually there with him. He needed concrete proof that they were both okay and _alive._

Pepper initially flinched in surprise from the hug, but quickly hugged him back. "Tony I-" she began.

"Nuh uh, let me start. You've taken such good care of me all these years. You stood by me when I was at my worst, and didn't care enough to be better. You were one of the reasons I believed that I _could_ be better. You've done everything for me, and hell, you do everything better than me. I mean, for God's sake, you're running my company for me. I know that I am infuriating to be around sometimes, and you have got to be the most patient and strong woman that I have ever met. I can't believe it's taken me so long to say it, but I love you Pep, so much. I love you 3000," the phrase that Morgan coined slipped out.

"Wow...you love me 3000? That is...a large number? I'm sure what the significance of that number is…" Pepper rambled on nervously. "I mean, you've never mentioned anything like that before. I don't...I don't know what to say," Pepper continued babbling, obviously flustered. "I mean, one moment you're doing something really dangerous, and nearly getting yourself killed, and the next moment you love me and you're extremely uncharacteristically sweet? I just, I love you too, but I never know if you're going to kill yourself, or destroy your own company, the company I'm trying to run, by the way-"

Tony cut Pepper off mid sentence and kissed her. God, he'd wanted to do that since he had gone back in time. Pepper leaned in and kissed him back passionately, both of them sharing a moment of relief.

"Dude, get a room," a voice interrupted the moment. "You look like two seals fighting over a grape."

Pepper and Tony jumped apart in shock, to find Rhodey standing at the door of the lab in his War Machine suit. "What the fuck? How long have you been standing there?" Tony asked accusingly.

"Long enough to want to barf. Like, seriously, you two need to find a less disgusting way to kiss, that was awful. It's not like I was trying to be invisible, I literally made a ton of noise coming in, and this suit isn't exactly camouflage or anything. But seriously, it took you two long enough. I thought I'd have to see you guys awkwardly dance around your feelings for another few years," Rhodey responded. "I'll just...leave you two to fight over that grape." Rhodey turned around, leaving the two lovebirds to their own accord.

Tony and Pepper spent a good thirty seconds looking at each other, before they burst out laughing. "That was good, right? That wasn't weird?" Pepper asked.

"I mean other than the fact that my best friend was creepily watching it happen from the corner of the room, yeah, it wasn't weird at all," Tony looked at Pepper fondly. "By the way, what was it that you came down for, anyway?" Tony asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that the company's gotten a ton of complaints after you failed to show up at the Queens expo yesterday. You were supposed to do a presentation, and a personal tour for a select few VIP members," Pepper replied.

Well...shit, he forgot. _Can you blame me though? I mean, I agreed to do it before I came back in time, and you can't seriously expect me to remember that? Plus, it's my assistant's job to remind me of this shit, so if anything, this is totally Natasha's fault._

XXXXXXX

The next day, Tony made an appearance at the Stark Expo. After making an entrance with the suit and doing his typical 'I am Iron Man' speech on stage, he walked over to the VIP section for the private tour. He was fairly certain that he had blown off the tour the first time around, but he figured that he might as well make some fans happy this time. Plus, he didn't want to get on Pepper's bad side, as things were currently going so well.

Suddenly, he felt a child bump right into his legs. He looked down, only to find a small child wearing an Iron Man mask. _Hey, it's that kid who stood up to those Hammer Bots._

"Peter! Come back here!" A familiar voice screamed.

"Sorry, Aunt May, but it's Mr Stark! He's here!" A young boy exclaimed.

Tony turned around to find a younger May Parker running after her nephew, with Ben Parker following close behind. "I'm so sorry, Mr Stark, he's just such a huge fan of your work," May apologized. "Don't worry, I'll get him out of your way." May grabbed Peter's hand. "Come on, buddy. Mr Stark is a very busy man, we can't be interrupting him."

Tony turned toward May and Ben, "it's not a problem at all." He knelt down so he'd be eye level with Peter, and spoke to him gently. "Hey, kid. I'm Tony. What's your name?"

Peter kept his mask on, seemingly at a loss for words. Ben gently nudged his nephew on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay Pete, introduce yourself to Mr Stark."

Peter slowly took off his mask and shyly said, "I'm Peter." Peter looked at the ground before nervously rambling. "I'm a huge fan of your work in arc reactor technology and clean sustainable energy. I've read all of your papers and reports, and I think you're really awesome, Mr Stark! Not that Iron Man isn't cool too, because he totally is, but I think you're even cooler."

Tony couldn't help but smile at the kid's babbling. _Damn it, I'm getting teary eyed. This kid's making me a softie._ "Oh, yeah? You into science?"

"Yeah! I love science. I like going through the dumpster to find parts to build computers and things," Peter replied with a gleam in his eyes.

"How would you all like to come to the VIP section for a personalized tour? It's starting in…" Tony glanced down at his watch. "Actually, it started like ten minutes ago, so we'd better hurry. Pepper's going to be on my ass-" May coughed softly, "I mean butt," Tony corrected himself. "Pepper is going to be on my butt, if I don't make it there after blowing it off the other day."

"Miss Potts sits on top of your butt?" Peter asked, feigning innocence.

"What? No, no, no! It's just an expression! It just means that she'll be really mad and-"

Peter snorted.

"Wait, you were just messing with me, weren't you?" Tony asked accusingly.

Peter just grinned back at him.

 _Man, I've missed that little shit._ "Anyway, what do you guys say? Want a free tour?" Tony asked.

"Are you sure, Mr Stark? We've only paid for general admissions tickets, and you're a busy man. We don't want to impose," said Ben.

"Like I said, it's not a problem. I'm always happy to help the next generation of scientists," Tony replied with a grin.

XXXXXXXX

Tony showed the VIP group around the expo, but the only people he paid any attention to were Peter, May, and Ben. Interacting with Peter again brought about a joy that he thought he'd never have again. Even as a child, Peter's intelligence did not fail to impress him.

By the end of the tour, Peter was effusing freely, the initial shyness completely gone. "-And then Ned, my best friend, destroyed the entire lego set by accident when he sat on it. We had to rebuild the whole thing, but I didn't really mind."

"Hey, Pete, I'm starting a junior internship program for young scientists, like yourself. I'm only accepting one or two applicants, but I think you would be a great fit," Tony said impulsively. _Well, that was a complete lie. But if he accepts, I'll get to spend more time with him._

Peter looked giddily at his aunt and uncle. "Can I?" he asked.

May glazed worriedly at Ben, before addressing Tony, "Does this internship cost money? I'd love to send Peter over there, but money's a little tight right now, and-"

Tony cut her off. "Nope, it's completely sponsored by me. All Peter's gotta do is show up after school hours whenever he can, and he'll work with me in the lab. I just bought a new Headquarters building in New York, so it'll be close to here." _No, I haven't. I can buy the Avengers tower a little earlier this time around, though._

XXXXXXX

After convincing the Parkers to take the "junior internship", Tony purchased the Avengers tower in New York. It didn't take much to convince Pepper to relocate the Stark Industries headquarters to New York. As it turned out, she'd been thinking the same thing, anyway. After all, most of their contractors and major business partners were located in New York. He built several floors of living quarters on the upper floors in preparation for the Avengers. Pepper moved in with him on his floor, while Natasha and Rhodey moved in on the lower floors.

When Nick Fury showed up to recruit him for his super secret boy band, Natasha once again "revealed her identity". This time around, Tony wasn't as abrasive, and accepted the position. To his dismay, his file still claimed that he was volatile, and didn't play well with others. _Thanks Natasha._ However, the conclusion summarized that despite these traits, he was willing to make the sacrifice play for the greater good of others, and that both Tony Stark and Iron Man were indeed recommended.

Peter began coming to the tower everyday after school, and sometimes, he even came in on the weekends. Happy constantly complained about being a babysitter and having to listen to the kid's incessant nattering. "He never stops talking, never." But Tony could tell that the kid had grown on Happy. After all, Happy did punch that Flash kid after realizing that he was the reason Peter was constantly sporting a black eye. Just like the first time around, Peter was an excitable kid, always eager to please everyone around him. Unlike the first time though, Tony made sure that he was always accessible to the kid, and made sure that the kid knew just how special he was.

Tony ended up getting the surgery to remove the shrapnel from his chest. Having to wear the arc reactor 24/7 was annoying anyway, and the shrapnel was painful.

A few months went by, and Tony and Natasha searched for the Winter Soldier. They went through the SHIELD, CIA, and FBI files and followed every lead they got. Every lead ended up being a dead end. _Barnes really knows how to hide, doesn't he?_

XXXXXXX

"Sir? My sensors are detecting an abnormal energy surge from the Tesseract. After you asked me to track its heat signature last year, I was able to detect its normal energy release pattern. It is currently radiating an unprecedented amount of energy, which is due to become unstable," Jarvis interrupted Natasha and Tony's bickering. They were once again hanging out in Tony's lab, which had become a regular occurrence.

"Shit. It's two days before the alien invasion! Loki's probably here now. We need to get to P.E.G.A.S.U.S right away!" Natasha exclaimed frantically.

"JARVIS, let the Parkers know that I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to meet with Peter tonight. Let Peter know that I promise to make it up to him," Tony requested before grabbing Natasha, and flying off.


	4. The Invasion Part 1

As Tony and Natasha landed in front P.E.G.A.S.U.S., a familiar flash of light appeared. The unmistakable sound of thunder that accompanied it vibrated throughout the secret SHIELD base. After the light faded out, the familiar faces of Thor and Loki took its place. Tony gave Natasha a confused glance before turning to the brothers and saying, "what the hell are you two doing here?"

Thor instantly put his hands up in surrender before introducing himself and his brother. "We mean Earth no harm. I am Thor, King of Asgard and God of Thunder, and this is my brother Loki, Prince of Asgard and God of Mischief. You may recognize us, as we defeated the Frost Giants in the place called 'New Mexico' not too long ago. We are here to take the Tesseract back to Asgard. We have many more defenses there, and will be able to provide better protection. Your world is currently at risk, as many seek the power of the Tesseract. We only seek to protect the Tesseract and your people."

Loki glanced at Natasha and Tony with a bewildered look on his face. He seemed equally surprised to see them there. He continued staring at the two of them thoughtfully for a few seconds before grabbing his brother's arm, dragging him inside the building. "Come on, brother, we don't have time for formalities. We need to get the Tesseract before it is stolen by another," Loki said frantically.

The four of them barged into the P.E.G.A.S.U.S. lab at once, only to find Nick Fury waiting for them. "What's this I hear about taking the Tesseract?"

"We only wish to prevent the Tesseract from falling into the wrong hands," Loki replied in what seemed like a poor attempt to diffuse the situation.

"That sounds like a threat," Fury stated, glowering at Loki menacingly. Fury crossed his arms, turning toward the two brothers. "What makes you think we would willingly give _you_ the tesseract? Earth needs protection, and I don't see how giving away the energy source that could be utilized for said protection would benefit our people."

Loki began to open his mouth to respond, when suddenly, a pulse of energy shook the room. "Director Fury, these readings are becoming unstable," Erik Selvig yelled in distress.

A giant blast radiated the room, and Ebony Maw appeared, sceptre in hand. Tony noticed Loki lunging at his brother, but he was too late. Before Loki could stop him, Thor began charging at Maw with Mjolnir. "Thor, wait! Don't let him near you, the sceptre contains the mind stone. Anyone he touches, he can control!" Loki exclaimed.

Loki's words appeared lost on Thor as he continued to head Maw's way. Maw lifted the sceptre, and came within an inch of landing it on Thor's chest. Suddenly, an arrow flew out towards Maw's head, nearly hitting him before he used magic to swipe it away.

Clint then revealed himself as he landed in front of Thor, having jumped down from the bunker above. It was impossible to miss the slight surge of power, and the icy blue that overtook Clint's eyes as he received the hit from the sceptre meant for Thor.

"Clint!" Natasha screamed.

"Legolas!" Not _again! How did we mess things up already?_ Unfortunately, it was too late. Chaos erupted as everyone scrambled to escape from the facility that was due to blow. Tony quickly made his way to the cube, then placed it into a case and handed the Tesseract to Fury, yelling for him to take it away. Tony could only watch out of the corner of his eye as Maw used the chaos to his advantage, gaining control over Erik Selvig, as well as a few other SHIELD agents.

Just as Fury looked like he might succeed in escaping with the Tesseract, a mind controlled Clint cornered him, thrusting Fury to the other side of the room, and snatched the Tesseract from his hands. Fury groaned as he sat up, then ran out the door, seeming to recognize defeat.

Even with the help of Thor, Loki, Tony, and Natasha, Ebony Maw managed to make a clean getaway with Clint and Selvig. The combination of the chaos, Maw's magic, and the power of the sceptre, paved the way for his escape.

"Guys, we need to get out of here, this place is gonna blow," Tony yelled at the other three. "Hang on, Widow!" Tony flew over to Natasha and grabbed her before taking off.

Tony noticed as Thor grabbed Loki in a similar fashion before flying out with Mjolnir.

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter made his way into the tower, squeezing past all the Stark Industries workers. Being small had its perks, as no one even noticed him sneak by. May and Ben had told him that Mr Stark wouldn't be able to work with him that night, but Peter couldn't shake his feeling that something was wrong. What if Mr Stark was sick? What if he had a dangerous mission? Peter only wanted to help him. As Peter arrived at the door of Mr Stark's lab, he noticed that it was empty. "JARVIS? Where is Mr Stark?" Peter asked.

"My GPS coordinates indicate that Mr Stark has routed his suit back to the tower and should be arriving shortly with Miss Romanoff," JARVIS replied.

"Nat's coming?" Peter asked excitedly. Peter had grown rather close to the red haired woman, as she often hung around Mr Stark's lab during Peter's junior internship. She could be scary at times, but she was also very kind and nurturing. Sometimes, she reminded Peter of his Aunt May.

"Yes, it appears that sir is currently flying with Miss Romanoff," JARVIS said. "Would you like to wait in the lab?"

"Yeah, I'll wait for him," Peter replied. _So...Nat and Mr Stark are off doing something. Maybe they are on a mission! Mr Stark said she was some kind of agent. They're probably working together. Mr Stark would never let me help him, he's always super overprotective. He freaks out about me using tools in the lab. But I'll show him that I can help! He just can't know that I'm here._ "Hey JARVIS, can you not tell Mr Stark that I'm here?"

"Since you are not an intruder and have authorized access to all floors in the tower, my code does not require me to inform Mr Stark of your presence unless he specifically asks if you are here," JARVIS responded.

Just as Peter was about to thank JARVIS, he heard the signature sound of the Iron Man armor clanking against the floor of the lab. Peter quickly thrust himself underneath the table, praying that Mr Stark hadn't heard him.

Peter watched as Mr Stark stepped out of his suit after putting Natasha down. "What exactly did we change that would make Reindeer Games show up with Point Break to take the Tesseract back to Asgard? And why is Loki not being mind controlled Thanos this time around? As far as I know, we didn't change anything relating to the events in space...unless...you said Loki was in the Soul World, right? Maybe he came back in time, as well. That might explain why a bunch of blue ice monsters showed up in New Mexico where Thor was banished to. I had a feeling that the whole snafu there had gone down differently last time. Loki must have changed something. Damn, I should've paid more attention to that…" Mr Stark muttered, seeming to be lost in thought.

Fully intrigued, Peter listened carefully as Mr Stark muttered something about kicking himself for not noticing the difference in how the events in New Mexico went down this time around. Peter wasn't sure if he'd heard right, but he could have sworn that he'd heard Natasha say something along the lines of how neither of them had been present when Thor had fought the Destroyer the previous time. If Peter hadn't known any better, he would've thought that the two were from the future. Of course, that couldn't be possible. But still, if the imaginary scenario he'd conjured up in his head was somehow true, that meant that even if Mr Stark and Natasha were from the future, they still had gaps in their foreknowledge, which had caused an oversight.

Peter shook his head at himself. Sometimes, he really let his imagination get the best of him. Mr Stark and Natasha were probably talking about some adult stuff that he couldn't understand. He leaned as far out as he could under the table, whilst still being hidden, so he could get a better view of what was going on.

Natasha stared at Tony thoughtfully. "JARVIS, pull up that SHIELD file on the events in New Mexico involving Thor," Natasha instructed.

"As you wish, Miss Romanoff," JARVIS obliged.

From what Peter understood, based on the file that JARVIS pulled up, a species called the Frost Giants had attacked New Mexico, presumably targeting Thor. According to Thor's statement, Thor had sacrificed himself while in mortal form, once again becoming "worthy of Mjolnir". Loki had then arrived, and helped his brother slay the creatures.

"Okay, that definitely didn't happen last time," Natasha muttered. "We need to talk to Loki and see what he's changed. Thanos must've sent someone else to invade Earth if he never encountered Loki… We need to figure out what he knows, and if he knows who this new alien is," Natasha said.

"Oh, you mean Squidward? He's Thanos's 'son'. I ended up fighting him and blasting him off into space last time. Gotta say, I'm not a huge fan of the guy," Tony replied.

"Well, we need to speak to Loki as soon as we can, and see what his plan is. But first off, Coulson's tasked me with bringing in Bruce. By the way, what are we even doing back here?" Natasha asked Tony.

Tony walked over to the back of the lab and picked up a remote control. He pressed a large, green button, and the back wall opened up to reveal an updated version of a Quinjet. "I've got a fully equipped Iron Legion stored on this bad boy, which I thought might come in handy. I also thought we'd fly this thing down to greet our good ol' jolly green friend together. You're not the only one who misses Brucie Bear."

As Peter listened to Natasha and Tony corroborate a plan, he realized that there was indeed a mission, and a dangerous one at that. He didn't quite understand everything they were talking about, but from what he put together, there were going to be aliens attacking Earth. Peter swiftly sprinted from under the table to the door of the Quinjet, sneaking himself in while Natasha and Tony were distracted by a hologram. He must not have been quiet enough though, because Natasha turned toward the Quinjet with a suspicious look on her face. "Tony, did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Tony questioned her back. "JARVIS, there isn't an intruder in here, right?"

"No, sir, there is no one in the lab without authorized access," JARVIS confirmed.

Even with JARVIS's confirmation that there were no intruders, Natasha still seemed suspicious, but let it go, probably because the two heroes had to focus on their main objectives. "Maw is probably going to show up in Germany, because he needs the Iridium as a stabilizing agent," Natasha deduced. "We need to get there as soon as we pick up Bruce."

After agreeing to a plan, Natasha and Tony headed into the Quinjet, not appearing to notice that Peter had hidden himself in the back corner.

XXXXXX

As Bruce Banner followed a young girl to the edge of town, a feeling of dread began to settle in his stomach. This was a setup. His suspicions were confirmed when none other than Tony Stark sat waiting for him inside the hut, along with an attractive red-haired woman.

"Should've gotten paid up front, Banner," Bruce muttered to himself.

"Dr Banner!" Tony exclaimed. "How are you and your green friend doing these days?"

"So, you two brought me to the edge of the city, that's smart," Bruce replied tersely, not answering the question. "I assume that the whole place is surrounded?"

"No, Bruce, it's just us and you," Natasha replied carefully.

"Yeah, I don't really play well with others, at least according to her," Tony stated while gesturing to Natasha. "So, I typically avoid working with people that aren't necessary to the cause. Since we don't consider you a threat to us, there's no reason for us to surround the place. Contrary to what you think, you're not a monster. I read the reports, you know. That amount of gamma radiation should've killed you."

"So...what's your point? Are you saying that the Hulk saved me?" Bruce asked skeptically.

"I'm saying that you're here for a reason, and you're resilient," Tony replied sincerely. "Damn, I wish Bruce could see what he becomes in the future. He's way too hard on himself," Bruce heard Tony whisper to Natasha.

"What do you mean by 'what I become in future'?" Bruce inquired dubiously.

Tony looked surprised for a moment, before the look of realization dawned on his face. "Right, your green friend inside of you provides you with slightly heightened senses, even when you're in 'Banner form'," Tony said sheepishly. "I meant that as a futurist, I can predict the future, and I _know_ that you _and_ jolly green will be great.

Bruce responded with a doubtful look, then shook his head, and decided to change the subject. "I'm sorry, I know who you are, because how could I not, but who are you?" Bruce questioned, facing Natasha.

"Natasha Romanoff. We're officially here on behalf of SHIELD, but we're also here to recruit you for the Avengers initiative."

"So you two aren't here to kill me? Because I'm warning you right now, that won't work out well for either of us," Bruce replied suspiciously.

"Like we already said, we're not afraid of you, Bruce. The fate of the world is at stake, and we think you can help us," Natasha said. "This is the Tesseract," Natasha continued, pulling out her phone to show Bruce. "It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

"So...what do you want me to do, swallow it?" Bruce asked sarcastically.

"We need your help to find it. It has been taken by Ebony Maw, he's from another planet," Natasha replied.

"So you aren't after the monster?" Bruce asked as he took off his glasses to look Natasha in the eye.

"Not unless it comes to that. We want your help locating the cube before any fight breaks out," Natasha answered honestly.

"How do I know you aren't going to throw me in a cage?" Bruce questioned.

"Yeah...I've been held in captivity before. Not really a fan of it, so it'd be pretty hypocritical for me to throw an innocent man in a cage," Tony said.

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bruce screamed, testing them.

To his surprise, neither Natasha nor Tony even flinched. Tony just chuckled as he slapped Bruce's shoulder. "Brucie Bear, you need to work on being more intimidating. I'm pretty sure my ten year old kid is more threatening than you."

Natasha and Tony eventually managed to sway Bruce into coming in with them. By the end of the ordeal, Bruce began to trust them, albeit slightly.

XXXXXXXX

After Mr Stark and Natasha had left the quinjet, Peter stayed behind, unsure of what to do. _Maybe this was a bad idea. I don't even know where we are._ Peter got up off the spot on the floor where he'd been hiding, and wandered around the Quinjet, geeking out over all the technology, now that he could get a good look around. "Woah!" Peter exclaimed in awe as he looked at one of the Iron Man suits. "JARVIS! How many of these does Mr Stark have?"

"Mr Stark currently has fifty equipped Iron Man suits on the vehicle. A majority of them are condensed in a case. I am afraid that the location we are in has been identified as high risk by Mr Stark. According to the Baby Protection Protocol created by Mr Stark, I am required to provide you with a layer of protection."

"A layer of protection? What do you mean JARVIS?" Peter asked.

"Engaging the Baby Protection Protocol." One of the Iron Man suits that was not in a case enclosed itself around Peter. The suit was too large for Peter, as his feet didn't quite touch the bottom of the suit.

"Oh my God! This is literally the coolest thing ever! I'm basically Iron Man. Hey, JARVIS, can I fly in this thing? Can I blast something?" Peter asked excitedly.

"I'm sorry, Mr Parker, but the Training Wheels Protocol prohibits you from using any combat functions in the suit unless the situation is considered 'dire'."

Peter sighed in disappointment. _First the Baby Protection Protocol, and now the Training Wheels Protocol? I'm not a baby!_

XXXXXXXXX

Tony sat in the Quinjet with the rest of the group feeling a sense of trepidation. They'd be in Stuttgart soon, and Tony wasn't really sure what to expect.

To his surprise, when they'd finally appeared at the scene in Stuttgart, they'd found that Thor and Loki had already arrived on the scene. Maw had already surrendered, and the sceptre had been secured.

The events leading up to the attack had been slightly different, but also eerily similar to the first time around. The unknown variables, such as the new roles that Ebony Maw and Loki were playing, caused Tony a feeling of unease. He and Natasha needed to speak to Loki as soon as possible.


	5. The Invasion Part 2

Tony and the rest of the Avengers once again found themselves at the round table on the Helicarrier, this time with the additions of Loki and Rhodey (Tony had called him in to help). Loki stood next to a pacing Thor, while Bruce stood in the corner next to Tony and Rhodey, and Natasha and Steve sat at the table.

The Avengers watched Maw monologue in his cell through the security screen. "Be grateful, for your meaningless lives will now be graced with the presence of a child of Thanos. I, Ebony Maw, will do you the favor of ruling your hopeless race-"

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce asked sarcastically.

"We need to figure out what his play is. Does anyone have any information on who he is, and who this 'Thanos' character is?" Steve asked.

"Thanos is a madman. He seeks to gather all the Infinity Stones and use them to wipe out half the universe," Loki replied. Tony noted that he was shivering a bit, probably at the thought of Thanos.

"Infinity Stones?" Rhodey asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"The six elemental crystals of the universe. Each Infinity Stone controls an essential aspect of the universe. The Space Stone is contained inside the Tesseract and the Mind Stone is contained inside the sceptre," Thor responded.

Tony noticed Loki's open his mouth to add to Thor's information, so he decided to be annoying and beat Loki to it. "He has an army called the Chitauri. I assume he wants to use them to take control of the Earth, so it'll be easier for Thanos to gain control of the Infinity Stones on Earth," Tony said.

Loki glared at Tony, obviously upset that he'd spoken over him. "And...how exactly do you know that, Stark? I wasn't aware that you've ever even been to space, so how do you possess such extensive knowledge about the Maw's plans?"

Tony glared back at Loki. _Seriously, Reindeer Games?_ "I'm a genius," Tony replied.

"That still doesn't explain how-" Loki began.

Natasha cut Loki off. "As much as I'd enjoy continuing watching this pissing contest, we have more important things that we need to accomplish right now."

Steve nodded appreciatively in Natasha's direction. "So...he's got an army. From outer space." Steve seemed exasperated.

"Maw needs the Iridium to open a portal," Bruce stated.

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony and Loki stated at the same time. They glared at each other once again, then stuttered over each other, both trying to speak over the other. Loki eventually won the testosterone battle, much to Tony's dismay.

"The portal in the P.E.G.A.S.U.S lab collapsed on itself due to its instability. With a proper stabilizing agent, it will hold itself together and allow the Chitauri through," Loki said, smirking at Tony.

 _That little...God, that sly, greasy haired twit is going to be the death of me._ "Excuse me, but Brucie Bear and I are the 'Science Bros' here, so you have no right to butt in with inadequate explanations of important scientific processes," Tony replied haughtily. "Reindeer Games here, forgot to mention that Maw would have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier, unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the Quantum Tunneling Effect. If he did that, he'd be able to achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Tony continued, obviously in an effort to show his superiority in knowledge.

"I only omitted that information, because I didn't feel it necessary to say to laymen. Some people know how to cater to others, and can properly summarize information, rather than simply recite research," Loki replied, glowering at Tony.

Tony just ignored Loki and pointed to the "Galaga Guy". "Hey, you! Yeah, you playing Galaga. Aren't you an agent? Word of advice? You gotta learn to be more discreet, we all notice you over there. You're not a secret HYDRA agent, right?"

The guy looked up from his game for a second and shook his head. He then continued to play the game, ignoring Tony's pointed look at him.

"Well, I gotta say, I admire a guy that can be so nonchalant during a potential global threat. If you ever want a different job, like, perhaps one at Stark Industries, you're hired," Tony said.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked Tony angrily. "We need to focus on the task at hand."

Tony bit his tongue to prevent himself from making a snarky comment back at Steve. He really didn't want to start out on the wrong foot with Steve again. Despite their differences, Steve had become family to him, and he'd trust Steve with his life if it came down to it. "Yeah, sorry, Capsicle," Tony replied, forcing out an apology.

"What I want to know..." Fury said as he walked in. "Is how Maw managed to turn some of the sharpest people I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I don't believe I understand," Thor answered with a confused frown.

"I do!" Steve declared proudly. "I understood that reference."

Tony walked over to Steve and patted him on the shoulder condescendingly. "We're all very proud of you, Old Man," Tony replied sarcastically. Steve looked back at him slightly miffed. _So much for starting on the right foot this time around._

XXXXXXXXXX

After the Avengers finished discussing Maw's plan, Tony and Natasha were both pulled aside by Loki. The three of them stared at each other calculatingly for a few seconds, not saying a word. Finally, Tony broke the silence. "So, time travel...it's a funny thing, isn't it?"

"What is _he_ doing here?" Loki asked Natasha, while pointing at Tony with a look of disgust. "I deduced that the realm of the soul somehow sent the daughter of Thanos and I back to the past. I was unsure of whether or not you had come back until you showed up at the lab with _him,_ but he wasn't even in the soul realm."

"Well, for your information, Reindeer Games, I heroically sacrificed myself for the sake of the universe, and brought everyone back to life. I ended up on the orange vomit planet afterwards," Tony responded in a boastful manner.

Natasha stepped between the two, probably trying to prevent a full-blown fight. "There are more important things going on right now that take precedent over this petty catfight, so _please_ do me a favor, and try to be civil." Tony and Loki grunted reluctantly in agreement.

Tony recounted the events that had occurred since they had come back in time, with the help of Natasha. He and Natasha then listened to Loki's lengthy tale.

"I had come back during Thor's coronation day...after the past version of me had let the Frost Giants in. My idiot brother declared war on them once again, and broke the fragile truce between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants. I convinced my father to banish him to Earth, because my hot headed brother needed to learn some humility. Unfortunately, the broken truce meant unsteady grounds when it came to the Frost Giants. My father never fell into Odinsleep, because I never confronted him about my Frost Giant parentage. He did a horrible job trying to compromise with the Frost Giants, and they retaliated by coming to Earth to end Thor's life. Thor was a sacrificial idiot, and he became worthy of that horrible hammer of his again. I stabbed Laufey through the heart, and we killed the rest of the Frost Giants together," Loki sighed before continuing. "After that ordeal, I sought out Thanos in an attempt to contact Gamora. By the time I came across him, I discovered that both Gamora and her sister were no longer with Thanos. I'd also gotten word that Thanos had sent Maw to retrieve the Tesseract, which is when I came to P.E.G.A.S.U.S. with Thor."

Tony looked at Natasha, and both remained silent for a moment, taking in the new information. Tony once again broke the silence. "So, somehow the soul stone sent us all back. But what about Vision? He doesn't even exist yet."

"I am afraid I do not know what will become of Vision. Perhaps when he is created in this timeline, he will remember the past. Time magic is very complicated and dangerous to meddle with. We must proceed with caution in the future, as our changes have already caused some uncertainties," Loki responded.

Tony scratched his beard thoughtfully. "So...what? We just let everything happen the same way it did last time? I hate to break it to you, Reindeer Games, but we've already changed things. In fact, the person who caused the most significant and possibly most detrimental change was _you._ At least if you were invading Earth again, we'd be able to predict what happens. Maw is a wild card. So, if anything, all of our problems are your fault-"

"Excuse me for not wanting to be _mind controlled_ again by that maniac," Loki snapped back.

Tony opened his mouth to retort, when suddenly, the unmistakable roar of the Hulk erupted. The Helicarrier then shook, as an explosion occurred.

"Goddamnit Clint!" Natasha exclaimed.

XXXXX

Natasha wished Tony luck, as he once again left to go help Steve fix the engine. This time around, Rhodey tagged along to help.

Meanwhile, Natasha and Loki attempted to help Thor contain the Hulk.

"BANNER! TRY TO THINK! WE ARE NOT THE ENEMY!" Thor screamed as he whacked the Hulk in the face with Mjolnir. This had the opposite of the desired effect, as the Hulk seemed to grow angrier and punched Thor in the face, launching him across the room.

"Thor! Stop hitting him. You'll just make him angrier. Just let me try something really quickly," Natasha said. As much as she loved Thor, the Norse God could be extremely tactless at times.

"What exactly are you going to do? Sing him a lullaby?" Loki asked sarcastically.

"Yes, actually, I am." Natasha bent down slowly and reached her hand out. "Hey, Big Guy. Sun's getting real low," Natasha sang soothingly. The lullaby appeared to work, as the Hulk turned toward Natasha, and began reaching his hand out toward her.

"That's by far the worst lullaby I've ever heard. Does that even count as one?" Loki asked in disbelief.

 _ROAR!_ The Hulk angrily punched a hole in the ground. "HULK LOVE LULLABY!" he screamed. The Hulk marched towards a whimpering Loki.

"I was only joking...only joking…" Loki wheezed out nervously. Loki's pleas did not seem to do anything to stop the Hulk's anger. The Hulk picked up Loki by the leg, and body slammed him repeatedly, before tossing Loki into a wall.

It the situation weren't so dire, Natasha probably would've laughed.

After doing his best to wipe away his tears and collect himself, Loki picked himself up. "SERIOUSLY? AGAIN? I AM ON THE RIGHT SIDE THIS TIME! I AM A GOD YOU BIG FAT GREEN OAF!" Loki screamed.

"Puny God," The Hulk muttered angrily as he punched another hole in the wall.

"Nice going, Loki," Natasha said sarcastically.

At that moment, the sound of the Iron Man suit thrusters filled the room, accompanied by a loud _CLANG_ when the suit landed. "Wait, let me help!" The unexpected voice of a child came out of the suit. Wait...that voice was very familiar...

" _Peter?_ " Natasha asked incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh...hey, Nat," Peter replied with a nervous chuckle. "Just wanted to help-AHHH!" The Hulk crashed into Peter's suit, and pinned him to the ground.

"PETER!" Natasha cried.

"Hey, dude! You like knock, knock jokes? Uh...let's try one. Knock, knock!" Peter wheezed out under the weight of the Hulk.

 _ROAR!_ The Hulk angrily punched the suit.

"I'll take that as a 'who's there'?" Peter responded nervously. Surprisingly, the Hulk began to laugh uncontrollably.

"METAL BOY, YOU SO FUNNY!" The Hulk screamed in delight. As the Hulk continued to laugh, he slowly turned back into Bruce.

"You have a _lot_ of explaining to do," Natasha crossed her arms, and looked at Peter pointedly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Natasha and Loki teamed up to knock out Clint. This time around, there wasn't really much of a fight. While Loki distracted Clint by creating multiple illusions of himself, Natasha came up from behind, and whacked Clint in the head.

Next, the two made their way over to where Maw was being held, only to find that he had already escaped from his cell, and was in possession of the sceptre, once again.

Natasha looked at the scene in front of her, absolutely horrified. Coulson was in trouble.

"You like this?" Coulson asked sarcastically as he pointed a weapon at Maw. "We started working on a prototype a few months ago. Even I don't know what it does," Coulson said menacingly.

"Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine. I will end your life in an instance," Maw replied, raising the sceptre.

"NO!" Natasha screamed as she and Loki came running to Coulson's aide.

"Hang on, Mr Agent! I got you!" Peter exclaimed. Peter flew over to Coulson and picked him up, bringing him out of harm's way.

"Pete! I thought I told you to stay low with Bruce!" Natasha scolded Peter. Honestly, the kid was worse at following directions than Cooper, and he was a handful.

"I'm sorry! JARVIS told me that you guys were in trouble over here, and I just wanted to make sure everyone was alright!" Peter replied as he flew off, Coulson in tow.

Once again, it seemed as though Maw had used the commotion to his advantage, escaping while everyone else was distracted.

"Shit," Natasha cursed under her breath after she noticed that Maw had disappeared. _We're doing a great job at fixing everything, aren't we?_

XXXXXXXX

After the commotion was over, Tony and the rest of the Avengers once again gathered at the table in the Helicarrier. This time, there was an addition of Peter, wearing one of Tony's Iron Man suits. His face plate was open, and rather than looking traumatized, he looked...excited. Of course Peter would find an alien invasion thrilling. This was the same kid who chased bank robbers in his free time (at least in the previous timeline). Upon noticing Tony's shocked face, Peter carefully stepped out of the suit, and cowered in front of Tony.

"Kid! What the hell are you doing here?" Tony asked in a scolding voice.

Tony and the Avengers watched as a very apologetic Peter explained how he'd snuck onboard, and helped take down the Hulk and save Coulson.

Tony took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It would be best to avoid an outburst, similar to the one that had occurred a few years ago during the "ferry incident". The kid had good intentions, after all, he didn't have a single bad bone in his body. But he needed the kid to understand that what he'd done was dangerous. He hoped that he could teach Peter to have _some_ sense of self-preservation this time around (although, Tony could admit that he wasn't exactly setting a great example). "You did good, kid. I want you to know that. I'm really proud that you stepped up, and did what you could," Tony sighed as he ran his hand through his beard. "But...kid, it isn't your job. What you did...sneaking on this ship, that was dangerous. You shouldn't be here. You could've gotten yourself seriously hurt, or even killed. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, kiddo," Tony lectured gently. _If something happened to you again…_

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered softly. He bowed his head, looking so guilty, but so cute. Those puppy eyes were making it so hard for Tony to be mad at Peter. Tony realized that Peter definitely hadn't meant to worry him, and hell, maybe he hadn't realized how much he meant to Tony. That needed to change. While Tony had been terrible at being accessible to the kid the first time around (and had rejected any kind of affection), it would be different this time. This time, the kid would know he was loved.

Tony couldn't help himself, and he wrapped his arms around the kid. Peter seemed surprised by the display of affection, but accepted the hug happily, nonetheless. This was the first hug that Tony had shared with Peter in the current timeline, and it felt so satisfying to finally embrace his kid.

Natasha cooed as she teasingly said, "Tony Stark really _does_ have a heart, who knew?" She walked over to Peter, and ruffled his hair. "By the way, Pete, that thing you pulled off with the Hulk took guts. You're made to be a hero, kid."

Rhodey nodded his head in agreement with Natasha, and high-fived Peter. "Jeez, I swear you become more like Tony every day."

"I'm sorry, am I the only one who did not know that Tony had a son?" Bruce asked. Steve also looked on in confusion, seemingly having the same question.

"Oh, I'm not his-" Peter began.

"Pete, here, is my personal intern and protege. And he's _my_ kid so if anyone has a problem with him, you've got a problem with me, capisce?" Tony asked threateningly.

"Well, I think that Starkson will make a fine warrior one day. Perhaps, after this is over, he can join us in celebration with revels," Thor declared loudly.

"Well, brother. Before any celebrations occur, perhaps we should focus on the problem that needs to be solved? We need to get to New York, Maw is most likely there already setting up the Chitauri attack," Loki said.

"And...how exactly do you know that Maw is headed towards New York?" Fury asked.

"It was just a guess. It's the location that makes the most sense. If it were me, I'd want a monument built in the sky with a name plastered on top. Plus, he needs a power source," Loki answered.

"Well, you're not the one planning the invasion, are you? I'm not sending you all out to New York on a hunch. Banner, have you made any progress on tracking the cube?" Fury asked urgently.

"Yeah, actually, it's just processing the information…" Bruce walked over to the screen, and took off his glasses. "It says the cube is located in Tennessee. In a second we should have a more exact location...ah ha! The cube is currently in Rose Hill, Tennessee."

Tony nearly choked on the blueberry he'd just popped into his mouth. _Rose Hill, Tennessee? The city that Harley is from? Why there?_

Tony saw Loki and Natasha share a confused look. Tony took the opportunity to make fun of Loki for predicting the "wrong location" of the alien invasion. But inside, he once again felt uneasy, as he was sure this was just the beginning of a chain of different, unpredictable events.


	6. The Invasion Part 3

"But...Mr Stark! I wanna stay! I can help!" Peter whined.

"I don't doubt that you could, kid. You're pretty amazing. But there's some serious adult shit-" Peter gave him a look, "adult stuff going on right now. I don't know what I'd do if you got yourself hurt. Also, if you came home with a single scratch, I'm pretty sure that Aunt Hottie would have me die a very painful death. Ben would probably help," Tony winced at the thought.

"No! Ben would never, he loves you! May — on the other hand...yeah — she would definitely kill you," Peter replied cheekily.

Tony wrapped his arms around the kid and kissed the top of his head. "Stay safe, Pete. I mean it. I'll come see you first thing when this is all over."

After a few more complaints from Peter, he finally complied and got back into the Iron Man suit (Tony had entered the coordinates to fly him back to Queens). "JARVIS, send him home," Tony instructed.

"Yes, sir," JARVIS responded.

XXXXXXX

"Sir, you have an incoming call from Miss Potts," JARVIS informed Tony.

 _Oh shit, I totally forgot to talk to Pep._ Tony winced in preparation for the reprimanding he was about to receive. "Put her through, JARVIS."

"TONY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? IN CASE YOU FORGOT, AGAIN, YOU HAVE SOME VERY IMPORTANT BUSINESS MEETINGS WITH POTENTIAL CLIENTS TODAY! THEN I GET A CALL TELLING ME THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO SHOW UP?! I KNOW YOU AREN'T THE CEO ANYMORE, BUT YOU STILL HAVEE RESPONSIBILITIES!" Pepper screamed.

"Hey, Pep, remember when I told you about the Avengers?" Tony asked.

"You mean the superhero team? Yeah, what about it?" Pepper asked. "Oh my God, does this have something to do with that alien in Germany?"

"Yeah...something like that. Don't worry too much Pep, I'll be fine." _Hopefully...I actually have no idea how it'll go down this time around._ "But—just in case I'm not, just know that I love you so much. I love you 3000."

"I love you 3000, too," Pepper responded. After Tony had blurted out the phrase in his lab shortly after coming back in time, it had become "their thing". "Tony I...oh God...just be safe, okay? I can't lose you, I just can't."

XXXXXXX

Tony and the rest of the Avengers flew Tony's Quinjet to the area of Rose Hill, Tennessee where the cube was emitting a signal. "There," Bruce pointed to a tall building. "That's where the signal is coming from. Selvig must be using a reactor on the top of that building to power the cube."

"Okay. I've got the Iron Legion ready to go," Tony informed the group.

"HOLY SHIT!" Rhodey screamed. Tony and the others turned to look at what had caused the colonel's outburst. A portal had been opened, and the Chitauri had come out, some flying saucers, and others jumping out.

"We need to work together as a team," Steve stated, he seemed to naturally fill his role as team leader. "These things are going to keep on coming until we can figure out how to close that portal. Until then, our priority is containment. Stark and Rhodes, we need you up top with the rest of the suits. You got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back, or you turn it to ash. Barton, I need you on that roof, I want eyes on everything, call out patterns and strays. Thor, use the lightning to slow down the portal. Dr Banner, I need you to get angry and smash? If that's how it works. Loki, you need to focus on confronting Maw and getting a hold of the sceptre to close out the portal. Romanoff and I will stay on the ground, keep the fighting here."

"Hey, Cap, do you mind if I go with Reindeer Games? From previous experiences with Maw, we're going to need more than just a wannabe God fighting him. I mean, Maw practically destroyed Reindeer Games last time," Tony said snarkily.

Loki glared back at Tony, but seemed to agree with him. "As much as it pains me to admit, some help in taking down the Maw would be appreciated."

Steve nodded his head in agreement. "Alright Stark, you and Loki will secure the sceptre and focus on closing the portal. Rhodey and the rest of the Iron Legion will take care of the perimeter-"

Steve's plan was interrupted by a Chituari landing in the middle of the group of superheroes. Steve immediately threw his shield at the alien, swiftly cutting its head off.

"Damn, Old Man, you've got moves," Tony teased.

"Alright, everyone, let's get into position," Steve replied, ignoring Tony's banter, his battle face on.

XXXXXXXXX

After Tony finished giving Clint a lift to the roof, he remotely ordered JARVIS to send out the Iron Legion. "Rhodes, I've got the suits helping you with the perimeter. You gotta cover me and Reindeer Games while we try to steal the magic stick!"

"It's a sceptre containing the Mind Stone, Stark, calling it a magic stick undermines the significance of the artifact," Loki replied with an irritated tone.

"Whatever, it's a glowing stick that does magic. Hence, it's a magic stick," Tony quipped back.

"Copy that, Tony!" Rhodey replied, seeming to ignore the continued pissing contest between Tony and Loki.

"Hey, Stark, do you mind coming down here and giving me a ride up there?" Loki asked.

"I actually do mind. I have a rule against helping dicks, and since you are in fact a dick, I will not help you. Feel free to find your own way up," Tony replied with a chuckle.

"Stark! This is no time to be childish! Give Loki a lift to the roof!" Steve ordered.

"Oh, _please,_ " Tony scoffed. "He's literally a Norse God. I'm sure he can find his own way up. Can't he fly or teleport? Or on second thought, hey Reindeer Games, why don't you hitch a ride up on one of those gliders?"

"Flying and teleportation aren't exactly my favorite means of transportation. As for your other idea...as much as I hate to admit it, that's not a bad idea Stark," Loki replied, probably thinking about how fun it was to ride one of the gliders the first time around. That was, until he was blasted off of it by Legolas.

Tony hadn't seen Clint's explosive arrow blast Loki off in person, but the replays on the news had been satisfying to watch. _The greasy dick deserved that as revenge for mind controlling Clint. It must've been rather cathartic for Robin Hood. Actually, to be fair, Reindeer Games probably was just as much a victim as Katniss, because he was also being mind controlled, but whatever…_

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you just admit that I had a good idea? Can you please repeat that, I need to hear that again...I'm pretty sure I just went into shock there," Tony said sarcastically.

From the rooftop, Tony saw a mischievous glint take over Natasha's eye. An idea must've popped into her head. "Mind if I help you boys up there? How about we race to the top of the building on those gliders?" Natasha challenged Loki.

"Romanoff! That's not the plan! I need your help on the ground," Steve said. Tony watched as Steve threw his shield through a row of Chitauri, then effortlessly jumped on top of a car to take out another with his bare hands.

"Well, Cap, it looks like you're doing just fine on your own. But knowing Tony, he's bound to screw something up if he doesn't have a sane minded person helping him," Natasha replied.

"Hey!" Tony and Loki protested simultaneously.

"Fine, Romanoff, you can go and help Stark and Loki contain the sceptre," Steve replied. "Wow, the younger generation really doesn't know how to follow orders," Steve muttered to himself, probably forgetting that the comms were still on.

Tony rolled his eyes, thinking about Cap's blatant disregard for orders during Project Insight and the "Civil War". "Sorry, the rest of us just aren't such sticklers for the rules like you are, Old Man."

XXXXXXX

Tony watched carefully as Natasha and Loki raced to the roof. It was rather amusing to watch, as Loki repeatedly cursed in frustration. Even though they were technically on the same side this time, Tony was not ashamed to admit that he took pleasure in seeing the other man struggle. The greasy git really was insufferable.

"Looks like I won," Natasha smirked as she landed her glider on the roof a second before Loki.

"I don't recall ever verbally accepting the challenge," Loki replied defensively.

"So...all that cursing I heard on the comms on the way up as I was beating you had nothing to do with you wanting to win?" Natasha asked, clearly amused.

Before Loki had a chance to retort, Tony decided to interrupt him. "Seeing as I got here way before you two, _I_ clearly won."

Seeing as Loki probably did not have a good comeback to that, he quickly changed the subject. "Wow, what an ugly place to stage an invasion. At least I had good taste." Most likely realizing that the comms were still on, he quickly corrected himself. "I mean...if I were to be leading the invasion I would lead it with much more elegance."

"Nice save, Reindeer Games," Tony said.

Their light-hearted bickering was interrupted by Maw. "You insufferable humans really have no self-preservation skills. You are about to die at the hands of the child of Thanos."

"Yeah, whatever you say Squidward. You've said it before, and I haven't died yet," Tony replied. _Well, I mean, I did one time but I also saved the universe so…_

Tony quickly spotted Eric Selvig, and pointed him out to Loki (who was the closest to Selvig, otherwise, Tony would never ask the dickwad for help), who punched him in the face, promptly knocking him out. "You'll thank me later when you aren't being mind-controlled by a madman," Loki said unapologetically.

Maw fired at the three of them with the sceptre, narrowly missing Natasha. "Oh no you don't!" Natasha muttered, clearly annoyed. As Loki distracted Maw with an illusion of him charging at Maw from the front, he quickly came up behind him and stabbed him in the back. Tony watched as Natasha took advantage of Maw's confusion, and used the opportunity to grab the sceptre, while Tony fired at Maw to keep him occupied.

"You insolent little creatures! I will not be defeated-" Maw's speech was cut short by Natasha stabbing him in the chest with the sceptre.

Natasha winced as Maw's blood splashed in her face. "Okay, that's still _really_ gross."

"Stark, Romanoff, Loki! What's going on up there? Are you in possession of the sceptre. We need to close the portal before any more of these bastards come through!" Steve exclaimed.

"Wait, Fury! There isn't by chance a nuke headed our way, is there?" Tony asked.

"I tried to talk the council out of the stupid ass desicision because I know the Avengers would take care of-wait a minute, how did you know about that?" Fury asked.

"You forgot to turn your comms off while you argued with those idiots. I heard the whole thing," Tony lied. "But I think I know a good place to put that nuke."

"No, Tony! You are not going back up there!" Natasha screamed.

"Wait, Tony, did you send that suit up the wormhole?" Rhodey asked as he gestured toward an Iron Man suit carrying a nuke through the portal.

"No…" Tony replied in confusion. "JARVIS, why is there a rogue suit carrying a nuke?"

"I am afraid that Mr Parker overrode my protocols on his way back to Queens. When he arrived here, he asked me about the nuke and after I informed him of its nature, he immediately decided to take matters into his own hands," JARVIS responded apologetically.

Tony immediately felt his chest tighten and suddenly found himself barely able to breathe. "What...Peter...how...the fuck...how exactly did Peter override your protocols?" Tony grunted out.

"Your password was his name which he blurted out before he even started guessing passwords, sir."

"God fucking damn it!" Tony screamed. "JARVIS, connect me to Peter's comms."

"I am afraid that I am unable to connect you to Mr Parker." Tony watched on in panic as he saw Peter's suit fly through the portal.

"Stark, I need you to close that portal _now_. We can't risk anymore aliens getting in," Fury demanded.

"What the fuck? We are not closing that damn portal until Peter comes out!" Tony suddenly collapsed as the panic overtook him.

Natasha quickly knelt beside him and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Give him a minute, he'll come out."

"FUCK! Last time I started free falling as soon as I came out and only survived because Jolly Green caught me. I gotta get to Peter!" Although in a panicked state, adrenaline took over as Tony because flying toward the portal. However, before he could get there, Peter's suit came flying out of the wormhole, not free falling the way Tony's had. _Oh yeah, my newer suits are equipped for space._ Tony sighed in relief, the panic slowly leaving his body. _That kid is going to be the death of me...again._


	7. The Aftermath

Tony flew down with Peter, landing seconds before him. After seeing that Peter had made it out safely, Tony instructed Natasha to close the portal.

"Oh my gosh, that was like, the coolest thing that has ever happened to me! I can't wait to tell Ned, he'll be so jealous! Like, some aliens started coming at me, but I was so strong in this suit that they couldn't even take me! Then, when I saw that nuke, I knew I had to get rid of it, because that's literally a nuke, it would kill people, right? So then I thought, where should I put it, and I saw the big hole in the sky, and I was like, that's a great place! Then the whole thing went _BOOM!_ Oh, you should've seen it, Mr Stark! What the heck? All the aliens are collapsing. Oh! It's like those movies where the mother ship gets destroyed, and they all fall down! This is amazing-" Peter continued to ramble on, clearly unfazed by the whole experience.

Tony couldn't find the words to express his feelings of anger, shock, and relief, but he relished the comforting sound of Peter's rambling. He immediately stepped out of his suit and ordered JARVIS to open up Peter's suit. "Don't _ever_ scare me like that again, you hear me?" Tony scolded as he wrapped his arms around Peter. "God, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, kid.." Tony suddenly felt the panic attack from before come back, as flashbacks of Peter turning to dust on Titan flooded his vision. Tony dropped to the ground, once again finding it hard to breathe.

Peter's excitement seemed to immediately turn to guilt, as he appeared to be trying his best to calm Tony down. "I'm so sorry, Mr Stark, I just really wanted to help you and Nat. I wanted to protect you guys...I didn't mean to make you sad. And...I'm okay, Mr Stark, I'm here," Peter said as he wrapped his arms around Tony.

Tony held on to Peter for dear life, and the two stayed in an embrace, until Tony calmed down again. "You did a good job, kid. It was a brave thing you did out there. But...please, don't ever fly into space again, okay? I don't think my old heart could take it."

Tony then noticed the other Avengers make their way to him and Peter. Natasha arrived first, and immediately ran over to embrace Peter. "Wow, you really are Tony's kid, aren't you?"

Steve cleared his throat rather awkwardly. "Um...as much as I hate to interrupt, there's still a lot of cleaning up that we need to do," Steve said apologetically.

"Okay, cleanup first, then shawarma after. I'm starving," Tony replied. Although none of the Avengers had spoken during the"shawarma gathering" the first time around, it had nonetheless been a crucial bonding moment between the heroes that had solidified their camaraderie.

"What _is_ shawarma?" Peter asked innocently.

"The best thing that you will ever eat," Tony replied. _Okay, that might be stretching it a bit, but there are great memories associated with shawarma. I guess death has made me sentimental._

"You're not going to tell Uncle Ben and Aunt May, are you?" Peter asked nervously.

"I think it's probably best for everyone if we keep this quiet for now…" Tony replied as he thought about the shouting match that had occurred the first time around when May had found out about Spider-Man.

The Avengers were suddenly blinded by the flashing lights of cameras. A swarm of paparazzi circled in on the group. "Mr Stark! Is this your illegitimate son? He's the one responsible for saving Tennessee from the nuke, correct?"

"So much for keeping this quiet," Tony muttered to himself.

As Tony and the rest of the Avengers tried their best to make it through the hoard of paparazzi, one of the paparazzi made the mistake of grabbing Peter.

Tony's protective instincts immediately took over, as he gently grabbed Peter's arm and pushed Peter behind him. "Don't you _ever_ touch my son again," Tony growled menacingly, swiftly punching the man in the face. _Shit, did I just call him my son in front of the media?_

"I'll sue you! That's assault right there!" The man screamed angrily as he clutched his face, appearing to be in pain.

"Yeah, yeah, call my lawyer, asshat," Tony replied dismissively. _That's what you get for touching Peter._

"Mr Stark! Why did you hide your son from us all these years?" The other reporters continued to get too close for comfort.

"We need to get out of here," Tony muttered.

"Alright, you insolent humans, listen up. If you don't get out of our way within five seconds, I will stab all of you," Loki threatened, tossing his knife up into the air.

"Brother, you cannot threaten to stab humans," Thor scolded. Regardless, Loki's threat seemed to work, as the reporters immediately ran off.

XXXXX

After the Avengers had finally escaped from the reporters (or more accurately, the reporters escaped from Loki), Tony walked a bit behind thee rest of the group, along with Natasha and Loki.

"Why are we handing over the sceptre to a known terrorist organization? You do realize that the whole reason I came here with my annoying brother in the first place was to take the sceptre and Tesseract back to Asgard, right?" Loki asked Natasha and Tony.

"We need HYDRA to get their hands on it so that Wanda and Pietro can get their powers. Also, we can't risk changing the course of events anymore than we already have," Natasha replied.

"Yeah, and no offense Reindeer Games, but from what I've heard, Asgard seems to be the most destructible 'indestructible city' ever," Tony said. "Anyway guys, it's shawarma time!" Tony announced to the group.

"Don't let Thor hear you talk about Asgard like that, he'd probably hit you with that awful hammer of his, just to defend his birthplace's honor. Lucky for you, I'm not Asgardian, so I don't happen to care all that much. Seeing as you don't need the Tesseract, I'm assuming Thor and I will be taking that back to Asgard?" Loki asked as the group began walking towards the restaurant.

"Didn't we just establish that Asgard is super prone to destruction? No, I'll be keeping it in the tower. Only I'll be able to access it," Tony replied.

"Who put _you_ in charge of holding onto such an important artifact?" Loki asked incredulously.

"I did, obviously. In case you forgot, I saved the entire world when I snapped Thanos' army out of existence, it only makes sense that I help keep the Tesseract safe," Tony retorted pompously.

After some more bickering between Tony and Loki, Loki finally relented. Even though Loki most likely hated losing an argument to Tony, he surprised Tony, as he was able to put his pride aside, and do what was best for the universe. _Hey, maybe Reindeer Games is capable of growth? Nah, doing one good thing does not automatically mean he's a stand up citizen..._

XXXXX

The shawarma place in Rose Hill, Tennessee served overcooked meat that was far too dry to chew. Upon taking his first bite, Peter immediately spit out the flavorless piece of meat. "Mr Stark! That's _disgusting_ , I thought you said this would be the best thing I would ever eat!"

"Aw...come on kid, how bad can it be?" Tony asked before taking a bite of the dry meat himself. "Oh, damn, you're right, that's not good at all."

"Wow, the insolent metal man has bad taste, that's shocking," Loki chimed in sarcastically.

"Whatever, you greasy haired prick, at least we're bonding as a team," Tony replied, glowering at the God of Mischief.

"Mr Loki, are the stories I've read about you true? Are you really a shape-shifter? You're one of the coolest people that I've read about!" Peter exclaimed as he bounced up and down.

Loki smirked and turned into a snake, before slithering onto Tony's leg.

 _Oh, hell_ _no!_

"AWESOME!" Peter exclaimed. "Mr Stark, isn't Mr Loki the coolest superhero ever?"

 _Hero? This greasy haired twit literally led the alien invasion last time!_ "Reindeer Games, get off!" _This little shit thinks he can walk all over me? I don't think so!_

Peter giggled as Loki begrudgingly obliged. "Don't worry, Mr Stark, you don't have to be jealous, you're still my favorite. But Mr Loki is still _really_ cool."

Although exhausted and hungry, Tony noted that the Avengers still managed to have a great time, with Peter filling in the gaps of silence with his never-ending questions. By the time they were ready to leave, it seemed as though every Avenger had fallen in love with Peter. Peter's innocence and pure heart had even appeared to have won over Loki, who swore to kill anyone that so much as bad mouthed Peter in front of him.

XXXXX

A young boy around Peter's age sobbed as he knelt in front of the bodies of his mother and younger sister. Tony immediately noticed and alerted the rest of the Avengers and Peter, who were far too exhausted to notice the boy in the corner.

Tony glanced over at the boy again, before doing a double take. _No...it can't be...Harley?_


	8. Family

Tony looked on in shock, as Peter knelt down and gently placed his arm on Harley's shoulders. "I'm sorry about your family. I lost my mom and dad when I was really little. I don't remember them much, but my Aunt May and Uncle Ben said I didn't talk for weeks. I'm sorry...you probably don't want to hear too much about me right now. What's your name?" Peter asked.

"Har...Harley. Harley Keener," Harley replied between choked sobs. "What's your name?"

"I'm Peter. These are the Avengers, they just saved the world. I'm sure they can help you out too. Do you have any aunts, uncles, or family members we can call? Your dad?" Peter asked gently.

"My dad's more dead to me than my mom and sister," Harley snapped back.

Peter flinched slightly, probably a bit shocked at the harsh tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just really want to help you."

"No, I'm sorry. None of this is your fault. Don't worry about me, I'll get out of your way," Harley replied as he turned and walked away.

Tony stood frozen as he continued watching the exchange between Harley and Peter guiltily. _This is all my fault. If I'd just paid more attention, then Maw wouldn't have gotten away, and Harley's family would still be alive. I'm the reason they're dead. Oh my God._ "Hey kid, Harley, right? Listen, I've got this huge tower with a ton of empty rooms just begging for someone to come live there. Why don't you come and stay with me?" Tony asked impulsively.

"Oh my God! You're Iron Man," Harley replied slightly starstruck, momentarily forgetting about the dire situation.

"Yes, I am. I'm glad you recognize such an important heroic figure," Tony replied. Natasha rolled her eyes behind him. "I know this sucks ass right now, and I am terrible at comforting people, especially children. But...what I can do, is help you out if you come with me, capische?"

"Yeah...okay." Harley nodded slowly as he looked around at all the Avengers, his eyes then widened, clearly in excitement upon noticing Clint. "Woah...you're that arrow guy with the awesome exploding arrows! My dad was big on archery, said he'd teach me to hunt a deer with an arrow, you know, before he decided we weren't worth his time. No offense to the rest of you people, your powers are super cool and all, but a bow and arrow is super badass. Like, you're a real hero. What's your hero name anyway?"

Clint seemed a bit surprised by the attention the young boy gave him, but smiled gently in response anyway. "My codename is Hawkeye. Don't know if I'm much of a hero…" Clint muttered, probably thinking about those he'd killed while acting under Maw's orders. "But I can definitely do a better job at teaching you archery than that bastard anyway," Clint replied.

"Cool. You're already my favorite superhero," Harley replied, smiling slightly through his tear-stained face.

Tony brought his hand to his chest dramatically. "Oh, young Harley, you wound me. I thought you liked Iron Man! You into science? If you move into the tower, I'll let you help me and Pete out in the lab. We work on a bunch of cool shit in there, including Iron Man suits."

"Language, Tony!" Steve reprimanded Tony. "There are children here!"

"Yeah, Mr Stark! You owe me ten bucks for the swear jar when we get back to the tower!" Peter chimed in.

Tony looked to Natasha, she too, seemed to enjoy the nostalgic feeling of the team's banter. "Oh, come on, Pete! If I remember correctly, you dropped three f bombs the other day, and you still haven't paid any money yet either."

Before Peter could open his mouth to retort, Harley quietly spoke up once again. "You really mean that? But...you're Iron Man, and I'm just an orphan from Tennessee. Why would you want anything to do with me?"

Tony swallowed his guilt and smiled at Harley. "I got a feeling that we're connected, kiddo."

XXXXXXX

The Quinjet ride back to New York reminded Tony of old times. Every once in a while, he would catch Natasha's eye, and they'd both smile. The group's lighthearted banter filled Tony with the happiness that he didn't even realize he was missing. Harley still appeared to be shaken up (understandably so), having just lost his only family members hours earlier, but Peter's presence seemed to comfort him.

Tony watched as Bruce walked to the back of the Quinjet after the rest of the Avengers had already accepted Tony's generous offer to stay at the tower. Of course, Tony knew that Bruce would be the hardest to convince. Natasha followed close behind, and Tony decided to listen in on their conversation.

"You know, if you refuse Tony's offer, he'll just bother you relentlessly until you accept. You really don't have a choice in the matter. He'd be devastated without someone smart enough to keep up with him in that lab of his. And quite frankly, I'd miss you too," Natasha said.

"Miss me? You don't even know me," Bruce scoffed in disbelief.

"Maybe not, but I've read about you. You care about people so much that you've isolated yourself in a misguided attempt to help them. You help the sick in third world countries for free, despite the fact that with your seven PHDs, you could be making millions. You're brilliant, and regardless of what you think, so is the other guy. I've seen him in action, and I know that he's capable of a lot more than destruction. You can finally stop running Bruce. You have a family here," Natasha responded as she gently touched Bruce's cheek.

"You know what's funny? I was dead set on running away, but somehow you're actually making me consider staying. I feel like I know you, is that weird?" Bruce asked.

"No, not weird at all. I feel like I know you too," Natasha replied with a hint of a smile.

"But even if I did want to stay, there's no guarantee that the Hulk won't come out and put all of you in danger. And Tony's got kids in the tower too! The Hulk could lose control and kill them! It's far too risky!" Bruce exclaimed.

"We're a group full of people with metal suits, God-like powers, and a whole host of other skills. I'm sure we can hold our own. Plus, if Tony thought you were a danger to Pete, I doubt he'd even let you within 100 feet of the kid. He's _extremely_ overprotective. If he's willing to let you hang out with the kid, then he really trusts you. The other guy saved his life. And if it makes you feel any better, I bet Tony would be willing to help you design a suit that could contain the Hulk if anything were to happen."

"I'll...I'll have to think about it," Bruce replied. He seemed to have finally taken the offer under consideration, which Tony took as a win. "Wait..when did the other guy save Tony's life?" Bruce asked.

XXXXXXX

Tony (with Natasha's help) managed to convince all of the Avengers to move into the tower, including Loki and Thor. Loki seemed hesitant to stay in the same vicinity as Tony, but agreed that it was better that he stayed nearby to help the other two time travellers plan their next steps. Thor appeared to be excited to stay on Midgard and finally go visit Jane, who Tony learned still ended up slapping him for taking so long to come visit. Tony couldn't believe that he'd missed the slap during both timelines. What rotten luck he had. Loki, of course, had witnessed the slap, and spent an entire day gloating about how he'd seen it, and Tony had missed it. Loki admitted that even though he hadn't thought much of the Midgardian woman the first time he'd met her, that slap had made him develop an appreciation for the woman.

Pepper had seemed surprised that Tony was so determined to adopt an orphan off the street. However, upon meeting Harley, she too, appeared to have fallen in love with the young boy. She was quick to inform Tony that given that she didn't think Tony was responsible enough to adopt a child on his own, she was going to adopt Harley with him. Tony had his lawyers work efficiently, and within a month, Harley was officially adopted by Tony and Pepper. The trauma of losing his mother and sister, seemed to have left Harley much more shy and closed off than when Tony had met him the first time around. However, Peter appeared to bring him out of his shell. Peter's pureness seemed to have that effect on everyone.

May and Ben had yelled at Tony after seeing Peter on TV. Tony and Peter explained that Peter had sneaked onto the Quinjet, and continued to disobey orders (and therefore ended up recklessly putting his life on the line). Upon realizing that Tony had likely saved Peter's life with his safety protocols in the Iron Man suit, May and Ben had calmed down a little bit. In the end, May, Ben and Tony collectively decided that Peter was grounded for three months. Peter would be allowed to go to school and his apartment only, and to the tower on internship days, Tony would assign him "boring stuff only" (At first, Tony had tried to give Peter nothing but paperwork, but the kid's damn puppy dog eyes had him caving in, and he ended up letting the kid help him with the Iron Man suit designs again).

XXXXXX

"Sir, Captain Rogers is requesting permission to enter your floor. He wishes to speak with you," JARVIS notified Tony.

"Let him into my lab, JARVIS," Tony responded.

Steve entered the lab with wide eyes. "Wow, the technology of this time is something that I don't know I'll ever get used to."

"You'll be alright, Capsicle. I'm sure Pete and Harley would love to give the 'righteous Captain America' a tour of the twenty-first century," Tony replied with a laugh.

"That might actually be very helpful. How is Harley doing?" Steve asked.

"As well as a kid who just lost his whole family can be doing, I suppose. He's a strong, quippy kid at heart. He and Peter are going to be the death of me, I swear."

"They're both really good kids. They're lucky to have you. Look, I know we didn't get off on the right foot, and I'm afraid that's my fault. I made assumptions about you before I'd even met you, based on some old SHIELD files. I guess I was just so distraught after coming out of the ice. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was now in an unrecognizable world. I found out that all my friends were dead, and the love of my life had Alziemer's. When I saw that Howard had a son, I guess I was expecting him to be just like Howard was. That was an unfair comparison for me to make, and I'm sorry. You're a good man, Tony, and Howard would be proud of you," Steve said earnestly.

"Thanks, Cap," Tony replied. "If it's any consolation, I misjudged you too. I mean, you are as righteous and perfect as Dad made you out to be, but that's not a bad thing at all. I'm glad to have you around, Capsicle."

"Thank you, Tony," Steve replied, offering his hand to Tony.

Instead of shaking Steve's hand, Tony surprised both himself and Steve by going in for a hug. _Damn it, this time travel shit is making me so soft._ "Oh, and since you're one of the better public speakers on the team, Nat and I wanted to ask you to do something with us."

XXXXXXXXXX

After the alien invasion, the media circus soon grew out of control, especially in regards to Peter and Harley. When the paparazzi started camping outside Peter's (and now Harley's) school, Tony had told Peter and Harley that it was finally time to address the public, and hopefully calm things down. Peter sure hoped if would work, because the constant flashing lights and the reporters that accompanied them were really beginning to bother him.

The next night, Peter and Harley sat on the sofa with the Avengers who were currently at the tower. Peter clapped excitedly as the Roots began playing the theme music to the talk show. "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" popped up in big, bold, white letters on the television screen.

"This is going to be so good!" Peter exclaimed.

"Shhh...it's starting," Harley hissed at his brother.

"Oh right, sorry," Peter whispered back sheepishly.

"All right, I am so excited to have my first guests here tonight. I've done many interviews with one of them, but I have yet to meet these other two heroes. Also, I may or may not own some underwear merchandise from one of these amazing people," Jimmy laughed nervously before continuing on. "Anyway, without further ado, please welcome Tony Stark AKA Iron Man, Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow, and Steve Rogers AKA Captain America!"

Tony strutted out confidently, blowing kisses in an exaggerated fashion, then threw up his signature peace sign before dramatically sitting down in a cross legged position. Natasha just rolled her eyes behind him and waved to the audience. Steve, on the other hand, awkwardly bowed then quickly followed Tony and Natasha and sat down.

"Wow! Look at you all! Tony, it's so great to see you again! And Natasha, Steve, it's great to finally meet you!" Jimmy laughed nervously again before continuing. "Sorry, this is still so surreal to me! Like, I grew up sleeping with you!" Jimmy turned towards Steve. "I mean. Not literally of course, but I had your bed sheets, and your underwear too! You're my childhood hero."

"Thanks," Steve replied awkwardly. "To be quite honest with you, I didn't even know that was a thing."

"Yeah, Cap, I'm working on getting all Avengers merchandise patented, because I don't really want my face to end up on someone's dildo," Tony said. Jimmy laughed in an exaggerated manner as the audience applauded loudly. Tony stood up and bowed, before gesturing for the audience to continue.

"All right, that's enough everyone! Trust me, Tony doesn't need an ego boost. His head's big enough as it is," Natasha teased Tony.

"Aw, you wound me, Agent," Tony responded. "I, for one, think I am very humble. Who here thinks I'm humble?" Tony gestured towards the audience as they once again cheered loudly.

"That is not exactly a fair personality assessment Tony. I'm pretty sure they'll cheer for you no matter what you say," Steve responded. The cheering audience seemed to prove his point.

"Aw, come on, Capsicle, you're just salty because my team beat yours during our paintball game yesterday! And I had two children on my team!"

"Wait, you guys play paintball together?" Jimmy asked, clearly intrigued.

"Yes, well, I decided that if we were going to live and work together as a team, we needed to do some team bonding activities. It was the least violent activity that was suggested, so I agreed to it. In hindsight though, playing outside definitely would've been a better idea. The entire 40th floor of Avengers tower has been completely destroyed," Steve admitted sheepishly.

"What were the teams? I'm just curious, because Tony just mentioned that his team won?" Jimmy laughed again.

"Well, the winning team was me, Agent Romanoff, Rhodey, Brucie Bear, and my kids. The losers were Capsicle, Reindeer Games, Point Break, and Legolas. To be fair though, Thor and Loki are Asgardians, and had a hard time grasping the concept of the game. Loki spent the whole time annoying Thor with his illusions, and Thor broke his paint gun five minutes into the game. He spent the rest of the time chasing Loki's illusions and throwing things at all the illusions until he found Loki. I think the two of them missed the whole point of working together as a team," Tony chuckled as the audience burst into laughter.

"Wow! I kind of want to be there next time you have a paintball game, but at the same time, it sounds a bit terrifying. Not to pry or anything, but you mentioned kids? There have been a ton of paparazzi pictures as of late, with you and two young boys. There's also been speculation that one of the kids flew into the wormhole in Tennessee to save the town from a nuke?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, all of that's pretty much true," Tony admitted. "But before you judge me as a 'reckless parent' or whatever, know that Peter sneaked onto the plane, and I sent him home, but he hacked my suit and decided to go save the world. I met Peter a while back at one of my expos, I was super impressed by his scientific knowledge, and offered him a prestigious internship at Stark Industries. From there, we really got to know each other, and his little puppy eyes are so hard to resist. I never stood a chance against them. I honestly never dreamed of having kids before Pete. He might not technically be my son, but he's as good as. Harley's family was tragically killed during the alien invasion," Tony winced, the guilt of the situation still fresh. "I fell in love with the kid right away, and Pepper and I have officially adopted him. I love both of these kids so much, and if they continue getting harrassed by any of you low life paparazzi, I will personally come to your house in an Iron Man suit. You have been warned," Tony said menacingly, taking off his sunglasses, which provided a dramatic effect.

"Wow, Tony Stark as a protective dad, I never thought I'd see the day. This is a huge contrast from your party days. I remember the first time you came on this show in 2005, and you admitted to taking two tabs of LSD before coming on the show. To be fair to you, a drugged out Tony Stark is still much more intelligent than any of us will ever be," Jimmy responded laughing.

"Yeah well, everybody's gotta grow up sometime, right? And thanks for reminding me of that Jimmy. My kids are watching at home, and now you've just given them some bad ideas. Well, knowing how innocent Peter is, he probably hasn't heard of acid. Harley, on the other hand...Hey, kids, if you even think about doing drugs, you will never set foot outside of the tower ever again! I know you're watching this at home with the rest of the Avengers, so don't pretend that you didn't hear me!" Tony warned, he only seemed to be half joking.

Jimmy laughed again, bringing his head down to the table dramatically. "Well, who can argue with that when Iron Man is your dad? Anyway, I hope you don't mind if we change the subject a bit. I'm sure the audience would love to hear a little bit about each of the Avengers. Tony, of course we know a lot about you. So, why don't we start with you, Steve. Tell us a little bit about your life in the twenty-first century."

"Well, I guess it was a bit of a shock to wake up and discover that I was in a different century. It was tough at first, I'm not going to lie. But the team has helped me adjust a lot. I thought that I didn't have any family and friends, but these guys right here, and the ones back at the tower have shown me that that's not the case at all," Steve said earnestly while the audience cooed in response. "It is not so bad anyway. Food is a lot better, we used to boil everything. Peter and Harley have been helping me navigate Goggle…"

"It's Google, Old Man," Tony corrected.

"Yes, thank you, Tony. Good thing I brought my twenty-first century translator," Steve joked as the audience roared with laughter. "Anyway, it's definitely been an adjustment, but I'm glad that I've found a family in my team members."

"What about you, Natasha? What has this experience been like for you?" Jimmy asked, directing the attention to the assassin.

"Honestly? Before I became an Avenger, I felt lost. I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, and I've constantly been trying to be better. I've known Clint for a long time, he saved me in my darkest moments, and I would give my life for him in an instant. Tony and I actually met while I was undercover at his company. I'm pretty sure he only hired me, because my fake profile claimed that I was a lingerie model," Natasha said cheekily.

"Aw, come on, Agent Romanoff! Give me a little credit here. I hired you after I saw you beat up Happy in the ring," Tony interjected.

"Well, whatever the real reason Tony hired me is, I'm glad he did. I misjudged him, as I'm sure a lot of people do. Underneath his asshole persona, he's all fluff," Natasha said with a smile. "And Steve, over here," Natasha gestured towards the supersoldier, "is one of the best men that I've ever known. He truly is the embodiment of bravery." Steve looked surprised by her statement, most likely due to the fact that so far, they hadn't spoken much yet.

"What can you tell me about Thor and Loki?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, Point Break is honestly a happy go lucky golden retriever. But don't ever eat that man's Pop-Tarts. We nearly had to get the tower repaired after he and Loki had a full-blown fight when Thor discovered that his Pop-Tarts were missing. Unbeknownst to both of them, Clint was the one who ate them. Sorry, Legolas, your secret's out," Tony smirked. "Loki on the other hand, is a pain in the ass, but we put up with him anyway. For some ungodly reason, the kids love his magic tricks, so I let him stay with us."

"Wow...that sounds...intense. What can you tell us about Hawkeye? Other than the fact that he ate Thor's Pop-Tarts?" Jimmy asked again.

"I've known Clint for years, and we've had a ton of wild stories together. He's like a brother to me at this point, and we trust one another with everything. The man loves climbing in vents and scaring people, but he hasn't managed to be successful with me," Natasha smirked looking quite prideful. "Tony, on the other hand, screamed like a baby, and spilled hot coffee all over Bruce after Clint jumped down from the vent in his lab the other day."

"To be fair, my AI is _supposed_ to warn me when things like that happen, but apparently you, Agent Romanoff, specifically instructed JARVIS to be silent," Tony defended himself.

"Speaking of Bruce Banner, what is he like? Are he and the Hulk different people? How does that work?" Jimmy asked.

"Bruce is one of the purest guys out there. He's way more incredible than he realizes. He's a dork, and we love that. The Hulk is fiercely protective when it comes to those he cares about, and fun fact, he loves knock, knock jokes. If you ever want to get the Hulk to turn back into Bruce, you just gotta tell a good joke," Natasha responded.

"And last but not least, what can you tell us about Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes?" Jimmy asked.

"Rhodey's been my best friend since I was a baby faced teen at MIT. He walked me home after many wild nights out, and was there for me when some of the worst things happened to me. The man gets pissy with me sometimes, but only when I deserve it. Love you, Honey-Bear," Tony blew a kiss. The audience cooed in response.

"Wow, thank you all so much for coming on the show tonight. I'm afraid we're out of time, but thank you so much for this enlightening interview about Earth's mightiest heroes!" Jimmy clapped as the audience applauded with him.

Back at home, Peter clicked the remote, turning the television off. He looked to Bruce. "What's LSD?"

"Uh..." Bruce began awkwardly.


	9. The Mandarin

"Well, I see that you've finally decided to join the rest of the world after hiding down in your lab all day. If you didn't have me, you would've starved to death long ago," Pepper commented as Tony entered the living room. Tony saw that Pepper was currently in the kitchen preparing dinner, while Peter and Harley happily played Mario Kart in the living room.

"Then it is a good thing that you are always here to take care of me," Tony replied with a smile as he leaned in to kiss Pepper.

"Hey, Thing One and Thing Two, get in here with me and Pepper, I've got something for all of you," Tony announced.

"But D-I mean, Tony, I was just about to kick Peter's ass!" Harley complained as he entered the kitchen, with Peter following close behind. Tony was thrilled that the two boys had quickly become brothers, and one was rarely seen without the other.

"You were not!" Peter retorted.

Tony chuckled to himself. _God, I love my boys._ "Well, I can guarantee that what I'm about to give you both is better than Mario Kart." Tony pulled out three watches. "Put these on, then click the button on the side," he instructed. "I present to you Rescue, Iron Lad, and Iron Spider," Tony declared proudly.

"Oh my Gosh! This is so cool? Wait, why did you make mine look like a spider? I actually hate spiders, but this suit is super cool Da-Mr Stark! This is so awesome! " Peter rambled.

"This is the coolest thing ever Dad, I mean, Tony," Harley blushed most likely due to his slip up. Not that Tony minded, of course.

"Tony, are you crazy? Why are you giving us all suits?! I hope you don't plan on putting our _children_ in battle," Pepper scolded.

After Peter and Harley finished geeking out about the suits (and asking _every_ possible question about them, of course) and Pepper finished chewing Tony out for giving their children weaponized armour, Tony finally managed to explain why he made the suits. The suits had JARVIS built into them, and were only accessible to the boys with Tony's permission, or in case of an emergency. Of course, Pepper wasn't a fan of the fact that they were becoming a "family of robots", in her words, but eventually, she relented.

XXXXX

"See the thing is, I really want to ask Pep to marry me right now. I mean, I'm finally stable...well as stable as I will ever be, and I don't think I can wait any longer. Hap's been holding onto that ring since 2008, so that's already been taken care of. But what if she says no? What if it's too fast for her? God, I've already done this before, why am I so fucking nervous? Not to mention, we've already adopted a kid together, marriage should definitely be in the cards," Tony rambled on nervously to Natasha as he made adjustments to his suits in the lab. The two of them hanging out in Tony's lab to gossip and complain about their lives had become a regular occurrence.

"Well, I, for one think it's cute that your iron heart can get so nervous when it comes to the woman that you love," Natasha teased. "And you guys have known each other forever, it's definitely not too fast. If dying has taught us both anything, it's that we can't waste our lives by sitting around and waiting too long."

"Wow, since when did you become a romance expert? You never even managed to find Cap a date," Tony said.

"For your information, I did manage to find him a date. I mean, when I set them up I thought she was a nurse that lived across the hall, but it turned out to be Agent Sharon Carter," Natasha responded.

Tony had chosen the wrong moment to sip his green smoothie as he instantly spat the liquid everywhere in surprise. "Wait...Sharon Carter, as in Aunt Peggy's niece? That's so fucked up! Imagine what Aunt Peggy or Dad would've said if they'd seen that." Tony burst into uncontrollable laughter, with Natasha joining in.

"Well, they didn't exactly date or anything, they just kissed. I think it was too weird for him," Natasha replied.

"Wait...does that mean Cap is still a 100 year old virgin?" Tony asked.

"I mean, I'm not an expert on Steve's sex life, but I did kiss him once when we were on the run from HYDRA...hey don't look at me like that! It wasn't like that, it was for distraction purposes only. Steve and I are strictly friends. Anyway, I don't think he ever got over Peggy. She was his one true love."

"What about you and Big Green? You two seemed awfully cozy in the quinjet," Tony asked.

"Honestly? I'm not really sure. There's always been something there, but then Ultron happened, and Bruce disappeared for two years. And after half the universe vanished, it just didn't seem like a great time to get back together. Also, why are we going on about my love life now? We were talking about Pepper. Just propose to her, you need her. You're a hot mess without her holding you together."

"Well, I would take offense to that, but it's true…"

"Sir, Happy Hogan is on the line," JARVIS interrupted.

"Hey, Hap, what's up?" Tony asked as DUM-E bumped into a table and spilled his smoothie on the floor. "Shit DUM-E, I swear I'm gonna donate you to MIT one of these days." Tony snorted as he saw that Happy was holding the StarkPad so close to his face that his forehead took up the entire screen. _Some things never change._ "Is this forehead of security?"

"Well you told me to keep an eye on everyone meeting with Pepper and report anything suspicious to you. Well she's meeting with Aldrich Killian right now, and I did some digging, and we met him back in the 90's. He's showing her his big brain right now…"

"Wait...Killian? That isn't supposed to happen for another couple months at least! It's too early…the Mandarin attacks haven't even started yet!" Tony replied anxiously. "Shit, I'm sorry Hap, I gotta go. Listen to me carefully, I don't care what you have to do, get Pepper out of that room and do NOT follow anyone that looks suspicious. They're dangerous, and I don't want you getting hurt. Just get the hell out of there and get back to the tower immediately, do you understand?"

"Okay, Tony. But I'm telling you I could really hel-" Happy began before Tony hung up the phone and cut him off.

"Tony…" Natasha motioned to the TV screen where a bold headline read, **MIDTOWN SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNDER ATTACK BY TERRORISTS**. Tony ordered JARVIS to turn the volume up just in time for the two of them to hear a message by Trevor (the fake Mandarin).

"What the hell? How is this happening so soon? J, are you still connected to Pete and Harley? Are they okay?" Tony asked anxiously.

"Mr Parker and Mr Keener are both fine. They managed to activate their suits as soon as the explosion occurred. Their heroic actions ensured no students or staff were harmed. The Media has dubbed them 'Spider-Man' and 'Iron Man Jr'. Mr Keener was quick to correct the reporters and told them his name was 'Iron Lad'. Peter on the other hand preferred the Spider-Man name the media had chosen. Fortunately, the boys were both in an empty computer lab, skipping class at the time, so nobody saw their faces as they put on their suits. The media currently is oblivious of their identity," JARVIS said.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Wait, skipping class? What the hell were they doing in the computer lab?"

"I believe they were attempting to disable the Child Safety Protocol on their watches," JARVIS replied.

"Son of a bitch...those two are grounded forever! Skipping class to hack into weaponized suits that I strictly told them were for emergencies only? If I weren't so relieved, I would be a hell of a lot angrier. J, get me and Widow to Midtown immediately," Tony instructed.

"Yes, sir."

XXXXXXXX

After Tony had finished chewing out Harley and Peter for attempting to hack into their suits, Tony hugged them both tightly. "Don't you two ever scare me like that again! I swear, I've aged ten years since I've met you both."

"Sorry, Dad," Both Peter and Harley replied simultaneously. After all the lecturing, neither boy had realized that the word 'dad' had slipped out of their mouths. Tony sure noticed though, and he couldn't help the lone tear that fell down his cheek.

 _They called me Dad…I mean, they are my kids but to hear them say it? Better change the subject so I can distract myself and stop crying._ "So you guys are officially superheroes now, huh? Iron Lad and Spider-man!"

"Does this mean we're both Avengers now?" Peter asked hopefully.

Tony chuckled, "Sorry, kid, not right now, you're both too young. And if I have anything to do with it, you two will never have a job as dangerous as mine. And the only reason I'm letting you keep the suits, is to keep you guys safe. I'm upgrading the security measures tonight, so there's no way in hell you two will be able to hack them."

"Awww," Peter and Harley complained in disappointment.

XXXXXX

"Hey, Pete, I'm so sorry, but I'm gonna have to cancel our lab session tomorrow," Tony said sadly.

"Oh, that's okay, what's going on? Is it 'Avengers Business'? Peter asked, using exaggerated air quotes.

"No, that Asshole Norman Osborn from Oscorp Industries keeps bothering me about some stupid serum that he's created. Apparently he wants to somehow combine it with my Iron Man tech to come up with something 'superhuman' or something. Honestly, I don't trust the man, and that alone is why he will never work with me. Apparently, ignoring his phone calls isn't enough to get him to leave me alone, so I thought I'd tell him to fuck off in person," Tony responded.

"Oh my gosh, Norman Osborn? He's a genius! The man is a literal scientific legend! I mean, of course he's second to you, but he's still awesome. Can I come? Please?" Peter pleaded.

"While I don't appreciate you calling that asshat a genius, your presence would make this meeting slightly more bearable, so yes, you can come," Tony said.

"Thank you, Mr Stark, you're the best," Peter said excitedly.

"So, we're back to this 'Mr Stark' crap, huh?" Tony asked.

"Well, it _is_ the polite thing to do. Aunt May and Uncle Ben always told me to address adults by Mr, Mrs, or Ms. Also, I know it annoys you, so I will keep doing it for as long as I live."

"Jeez, kid, you _are_ like me. Okay, you can come with me. But please don't wander around the place. I _really_ don't like the guy, and I don't like the idea of you going off by yourself and getting yourself into trouble," Tony responded. _Ugh, I don't really like the idea of Peter being anywhere near that creep. But...it's just a quick meeting at Oscorp Industries to tell Norman to fuck off, what could possibly go wrong?_


	10. Norman Assborn

"So, I've gathered you all here, because I have another team mission," Tony announced. He'd decided that while it was definitely overkill to assemble the entire team to take down Aldrich Killian, it could be another team bonding experience. Plus, the last time he'd tried to take Killian on, Pepper had almost died. "As anyone not living under a rock knows, there's been a new terrorist in town…the Mandarin. Because I am a genius with superior technology, I did some digging and found some inside info-"

"Tony, you didn't hack into the military's files again, did you? We don't even have all the information yet, and-" Rhodey began.

"While I am hurt that you did not share that information with me Honey-Bear, what I know is far superior to the government. The Mandarin that you see on TV? He's just an actor. The real Mandarin, is a man named Aldrich Killian. He's created something called Extremis. It's something that allows people to regenerate, breathe fire, and a bunch of other confusing stuff. I'm speaking in layman's terms for everyone but Brucie Bear, by the way. However, it's super unstable, and it can cause explosions, hence the 'bombings'," Tony stated. "Now, Killian's got some lackeys with him at his testing site, and we can take them down by attacking them from behind and then throwing something at them, causing an explosion before they can regenerate. As Pepper would say, 'it's very violent'," Tony finished.

As the Avengers talked over the game plan, a warm feeling came to Tony. _If we keep the team together from the start, then the Civil War won't happen, and we won't be divided when the Purple Grape comes. We'll be ready, and nobody has to die. We can do this, together._

While Steve created a more detailed plan of attack, Tony kept his quippy comments to himself. He trusted Steve, and knew that winging it wasn't always the best strategy. But when Loki chimed in with his own ideas, Tony was quick to fire back with insults. Loki was the one person that Tony did not care about offending. _The guy destroyed my tower while invading New York, he deserves it. Granted, he was under mind control but...ugh, details. Just because he's not evil anymore, doesn't mean I have to like the guy. He's far too dramatic, whiny, and eccentric for me. It is so hard to like someone who's nothing like you._

XXXXXX

"JARVIS, locate all people with an Extremis signature," Tony instructed his AI. "Use the Iron Legion. You know what to do with them."

"Tony, over here," Steve called. Steve held up his vibranium shield as Tony fired his repulsors, reflecting them off the shield, taking down two extremis soldiers.

 _What the fuck? How are there so many Extremis soldiers? There's gotta be like, at least fifty of them here! What made Killian create so many this time around? It seems like every good change I make creates more problems!_ Tony felt a panic attack come on. _Calm down, calm down. You gotta focus._ Tony took a deep breath before firing and killing more extremis soldiers.

"Tony, I thought you said Killian had a few lackeys! This looks like a lot more than that!" Clint said as he fired an explosive arrow.

"Well Legolas, there's a reason I brought backup. I thought a secret agent like yourself would understand that sometimes inside information doesn't tell the whole story. Never realized you were such a complainer," Tony joked.

"Shut up, Tin Can," Hawkeye responded. "And considering the fact that the 'inside information' came from you, it seems like you just admitted that you were wrong."

Tony and Clint continued to quip back and forth, which actually helped Tony with his anxiety. _Thank God for Clint. Not that I'll ever tell him that._

Meanwhile, Tony noticed that the Hulk was having a grand time smashing the "fire men", while Thor followed closely behind, destroying the soldiers with Mjolnir. "HULK LOVE SMASHING FIRE MEN!"

"Tony, I have eyes on Killian. Loki, Rhodey, and I are going in," Natasha informed.

"Hold on, I'm coming too. I'd like to have a word with this dickwad," Tony said.

Tony flew up to the roof that Killian was standing on, joining Loki, Rhodey and Natasha.

"Well, well, well...if it isn't the great Tony Stark," Killian sneered. "Oh, how the tables have turned. You thought I was just some weak, little nerd who wasn't worth the time, but now, look at me. I AM THE MANDARIN!" Killian declared.

"Okay, in hindsight, I probably should've just told you that I was busy, instead of having you wait on the roof. For that, as much as I hate to do this, I apologize. And I never apologize. But you're the one who decided that it was a good idea to become a domestic terrorist, all because I skipped a meeting one time while I was drunk off my ass. I'm all for turning bad experiences into strength, but attacking a school full of children? My children? That's just cowardly," Tony responded. "You mess with my kids, you die. Simple as that."

"Oh, enough with the monologues," Loki complained just as Killian was about to respond. "Let's just kill the insolent little weasle and call it a day, shall we?" Loki swiftly used his energy projection magic to hit Killian with an energy blast, while Rhoney used a repulser to destroy Killian's body before he could regenerate.

"Wow, that was...anticlimactic," Tony stated.

"So, you're telling me that you had trouble killing _this guy_ in your past life?" Loki asked incredulously. "And you call yourself a warrior," Loki scoffed. "Well, now we certainly know which of the two of us is superior."

"Well, it's easy to finish the job when someone, AKA me, has already laid out all the groundwork. And not all of us can be Norse gods," Tony responded, irritated.

"What the hell are they talking about?" Tony heard Rhodey ask Natasha while he and Loki were arguing.

"I have no idea. But those two eccentric idiots might want to _shut up_ and talk about this _at another time_ ," Natasha responded. She gave the two feuding men a look that said, 'shut up before you fuck up the timeline all because of your endless pissing contest'. Tony immediately quieted down, and Loki quickly followed suit. That didn't stop them from continuing to glare at one another.

"Man of Iron, we have defeated the rest of the soldiers," Thor informed Tony.

"Alright, we need to blow up this place so that way, no other idiot from my past decides to use it to become a supervillain. Cap, get everyone to the quinjet," Tony instructed.

"Copy that Tony," Cap replied. "Alright, everyone's here."

"JARVIS, search the building and see if there's anyone there," Tony said.

"All clear, Boss," JARVIS replied.

"You know what to do."

XXXXXXXXXX

"In other news, Billionaire Tony Stark has donated a generous five million dollars to the Midtown School of Science and Technology to help them rebuild after the Mandarin attack," Anderson Cooper reported on CNN. "However, despite this generous donation, Midtown School is said to be closed for the next month as the building is restored. Classes are said to be continued online until further notice."

Peter watched the TV screen as he sat beside Tony in the waiting room at Oscorp Industries. "Ugh, I can't believe that we still have classes online. I thought the one good thing that could come from a supervillain attack would be that school would be canceled," Peter complained. "Ned, Harley, and I were going to work on the Republic Dropship that you just bought us."

Just as Peter saw Tony open his mouth to respond, Norman Osborn walked out with a young boy who looked to be around Peter's age. "Mr Stark, how wonderful to see you again," Norman said tersely, looking like it pained him to be cordial.

"Well, I wish I could say the same Normie, but you've always been an asshole, while I am amazing, so I guess the pleasure's all yours," Tony responded, clearly not caring about faking niceties.

Both Peter and the young boy standing next to Norman snorted in amusement. "Harry!" Norman scolded. "And I don't believe you've met my son, Harry. He's not the brightest, and he can be a bit of a nuisance, but I'm hoping that one day he'll mature enough to be able to run the company." Peter noted that the way Norman looked at Harry was far different from the way Tony looked at Peter. While Tony looked at Peter with nothing but admiration, Norman looked at Harry with pure disdain.

"Oh my gosh, Mr Normie, I mean Mr Norman or Osborn...Mr Osborn," Peter stuttered nervously. "I'm a huge fan, you're like, a scientific genius, your work on-"

"Thank you, young man," Norman cut Peter off. "And who might you be?"

"This is my kid, Peter. He's here to make sure I don't go completely insane while I'm here," Tony responded.

"I'm Parker, I'm mean I-I-I-I-I-I'm Peter Parker," Peter stuttered out at the same time.

"Am I correct in remembering that he attends Midtown School of Science and Technology? That's a very prestigious school, he must be very intelligent. It is unfortunate that the attack happened there. Perhaps Harry here, could learn a thing or two from Mr Parker," Norman said.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You know, if you didn't want to have a kid, you could've just kept your junk to yourself."

Norman smacked Harry with the stack of papers he was holding. "That's enough out of you." Norman shot Harry a death glare. "Why don't the boys go play, while the two of us discuss business?"

"I don't know, I don't really want Peter walking around unsupervised-" Tony began.

"Mr Stark, I'll be fine. It sounds like fun," Peter reassured him.

"Okay, fine. But if you need me at all, even if it's just because you can't find your juice box, have JARVIS notify me," Tony said.

"Da-I mean, Mr Stark! I'll be fine, I'm not a little kid!" Peter protested.

"Just promise me that you won't go anywhere you aren't supposed to go. I know you have a habit of doing that."

"I _promise_. Seriously, Mr Stark! Nothing's going to happen," Peter said.

XXXXX

"So, what's your deal with Tony Stark?" Harry asked Peter.

"What do you mean?" Peter wondered.

"Well, he's obviously no family man. Any magazine released in the past twenty years will tell you that. So, what is it? Some kind of PR stunt? Does your family get paychecks from the great Tony Stark in return?" Harry said.

"What? No, Mr Stark, Aunt May, and Uncle Ben would never do that! Mr Stark just offered me an internship when we met, and we connected. He's nothing like what people think. He's awesome, and he really cares about helping people. He's like a dad to me, he wouldn't do that," Peter defended his mentor.

"Hmmm…from what I've heard about him, he probably has a bunch of real kids out there that he's never bothered to meet. I doubt that he'd actually want to take in two random kids for no reason. But, who knows, I could be wrong. I know that my dad only had me so his 'heir' could take over the company," Harry said.

Peter went quiet as he took in Harry's words. _Could he be right? I mean, why would Tony want a kid like me?_

Peter then realized that while he'd been lost in his thoughts, Harry had disappeared. "Harry! Where are you?!" Peter called out nervously. "Harry, this isn't funny!"

Peter continued wandering around the building, but Harry was nowhere to be found. _Woah...is that a lab? I mean, I know Tony told me not to go anywhere I'm not supposed to go, but it would be so cool to see a real Oscorp lab!_ Peter hid behind a wall, as he watched a worker enter the passcode to the lab. Peter carefully looked around before entering the same passcode and entering the lab himself.

"Woah! This is so awesome!" Peter gushed as he took in the high tech facility. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck. "Ow, what the heck was that?" Peter asked as he instinctively slapped the area where the pain came from. "Ew, it's a spider, I hate spiders!" Peter exclaimed as he wiped the spider's remains on the lab table.

"Dr Connors, we've been making tremendous progress..." A woman's voice echoed throughout the lab.

"Oh man, I should get out of here before someone sees me. Mr Stark will kill me if I get caught," Peter quickly ran to the door and sprinted out.

XXXXX

"Peter! There you are, I've been looking for you!" Harry called out.

"Where did you go? You just disappeared without telling me," Peter said.

"Ummm...I did tell you. I said I was going to get us both sodas, remember?" Harry replied.

"Oh, yeah, right," Peter said. "Sorry." Peter took the Pepsi that Harry handed him.

"We should probably get back to my dad's office. They're probably done by now," Harry said. "Hey, Peter, are you okay? You look a little green."

"I'm okay. I probably just didn't get enough sleep last night," Peter said, trying to hide the fact that he was shivering. _I'm hot and cold at the same time. Oh man, I hope I don't have a fever. I'm supposed to go over to Ned's house tomorrow!_

XXXXXXXX

"Hey Pete, are you doing alright there?" Tony asked as Happy was driving them home.

"I'm fine, Mr Stark," Peter replied tersely. In actuality, his head was pounding, and it sounded like Happy had the radio station turned up to 100. "Happy, can you turn that off?"

Happy looked confused, but obliged. "What's the matter kid, you don't like AC/DC?"

"What? I thought that was Led Zeppelin?" Peter asked, his discomfort momentarily forgotten.

"Kid, that statement right there, is a crime against humanity. That truly hurts my soul, kid. Don't make me regret giving you that internship!" Tony joked.

Peter didn't know if it was the unbearable pain he was in that caused his little outburst, but suddenly, he snapped. "If you didn't want me in the first place, you should've just ignored me at that expo. What am I? Your charity case? Or is this some kind of PR stunt so the media will think you actually have an ounce of humanity in you?"

"Woah...kid, where is this coming from? And to answer your question, I took you in because I saw a better version of myself in you. I have believed in you since the day I met you, and you've brought me nothing but joy. You're an amazing kid Pete, and I love you, because blood or not, you're _my_ kid. Nothing will change that," Tony put his arm around Peter before feeling his forehead. "Jeez kid, you're burning up. JARVIS, what's his temperature?"

"102 degrees, sir," JARVIS replied.

"Alright Pete, when we get you home, you are going straight to bed. You need rest, and rest means rest, not working on some random science experiment, capisce?"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Mr Stark. I don't know what got into me! I just really don't feel good right now, and Harry said something earlier, and I couldn't get it out of my head and I-" Peter rambled.

"Shh..just go to sleep, it's okay. And whatever Harry said is based on his shitty relationship with Norman Assborn. I'm honestly surprised that Normie was able to raise a kid that turned out somewhat normal looking. The point is, whatever dumb theories Harry has about me aren't true, and I love you for you. JARVIS, recline Peter's chair, he needs to rest."

"Will do, sir," JARVIS replied.


	11. Power and Responsibility

As soon as Peter had gotten home from his trip to Oscorp Industries, he immediately collapsed in bed. He ended up feeling so horrible that he spent the next few days in his room, with his head under a blanket, blocking out the outside world. Everything hurt, and it felt like even the tiniest noises and smells drove him crazy. He kept the curtains drawn, because the sun was just too bright. When May came into his room and turned on the lights to check on him and bring him food, he nearly yelled out in pain. It felt like even the tiniest bit of light would blind him. Peter even went as far as to use what little energy he had to go through May's things and find her old sunglasses. He kept them on his nightstand, just so he could wear them whenever May came into his room and turned on the lights. While May had seemed confused about Peter's choice of ocular wear, she didn't dare question him while he was in such a fragile state. Tony called him every day, just to check in, but Peter made excuses to either avoid him, or he kept the calls as short as possible. While Tony's voice used to be music to his ears, after he'd gotten sick, it constantly felt like he was being yelled at. And it wasn't just Tony's voice that was way too loud. It was everyones' voices. Even the radio, television, and just about any other electronic device made his ears feel like they were on fire.

After a week of feeling the worst he'd ever felt, when Monday came around, Peter was finally feeling better. Even though his senses still seemed like they were dialed up to 11, all signs of his illness had suddenly disappeared. It seemed as though his appetite had gone through the roof as well. In under two hours, he'd eaten an entire extra large pepperoni pizza, a whole box of pop tarts, and ten strips of bacon. Yet, somehow, he was still starving.

But Peter's extreme appetite wasn't the only thing that was different. It seemed as though Peter had grown an entire foot overnight, and somehow had put on ten pounds of muscle. Mind you, he was still on the scrawny side, but he had a lean athletic look to him rather than just skin and bones. "Woah," Peter exclaimed as he examined himself in the mirror. "It's like those videos we watched in healthy class. I hit puberty really fast!"

Peter clasped the handle, opening his dresser drawer. His wooden dresser was no match for his newfound strength however, and the entire dresser came toppling down. Peter instinctively jumped onto the ceiling to avoid getting hit. "What the heck?" Peter muttered to himself. _How am I sticking to the ceiling?!_

"What was that? Peter, honey, are you okay?" May asked.

"It's-uh nothing! It's nothing! I just fell off my bed, but I'm okay!" Peter replied. _How do I get off the ceiling? My hands are stuck? What the heck is happening to me?_ Peter desperately tried to get down from the ceiling, but to no avail. It seemed as though his hands were superglued to the ceiling. "Oh man, this is really cool, but _really_ inconvenient."

"WOAH!" Peter exclaimed as he suddenly fell to the ground. _Okay, wow, so now you stop sticking? Great timing, Peter._

"Peter?" Aunt May called out again. "Are you sure you're alright, honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little clumsy," Peter responded quickly.

 _What is happening to me? This is so weird! I wonder if I have superpowers now? But...how? What happened to me?_ Peter thought back to all the comic books he'd read on how different superheroes had gotten their powers. The Flash had been struck by lightning, Superman was an alien, and Green Lantern had gotten his powers from a ring. Peter wracked his head, trying to figure out what could've caused his sudden power transformation, when suddenly, he remembered...the spider! There must have been something weird about that spider! The lab had a radiation warning outside on the door...could the spider have been...radioactive? Perhaps, that was why he had gotten sick. Curiosity suddenly struck Peter. _I wonder if I have super strength too? That's probably why my dresser fell down in the first place!_

Peter walked over to the area of his room where his dresser had fallen, and found that he was easily able to pick it up and place it back against the wall. "This is awesome!" Peter exclaimed. "I'm gonna be a superhero!" _I mean, I am already Spider-man, but now I have powers without a suit. It's kind of a weird coincidence that Tony created a spider themed suit for me though. Oh, well, who cares! I have superpowers!_

XXXXXXX

After Peter's day of online classes were over (because Midtown was still rebuilding after the Mandarin attack), he went outside to test out his new abilities. Peter ended up on the edge of Queens in a rusty old abandoned warehouse. It wasn't the most pleasant smelling place, but at least he had privacy there.

Peter had the time of his life, jumping around and crawling on walls. "WOO!" Peter screamed in joy. "THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Mr Parker, you have an Incoming call from Mr Stark," JARVIS informed him as his watch vibrated.

 _Shit! Mr Stark can't know about this! If he finds out, he'll tell Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and they'll never let me do anything with these powers!_ "Uh...no, no, no, no...JARVIS, don't answer it."

"I'm sorry, Mr Parker, but the Baby-sitting Protocol requires that I put Mr Stark through if it is in your best interest," JARVIS responded.

"Hey, kid, where are you? May said you were feeling better and that you'd be coming over today. Happy went over there to pick you up, but he said you weren't there. What's up?" Tony asked suspiciously.

"Uh, sorry! But I have this huge science project due, so I went over to Ned's to finish it. He's my lab partner this semester, you see?" Peter lied nervously.

"Hmmm...that's odd, considering that I know for a fact that Harley is your lab partner this semester," Tony replied. The current situation reminded Tony far too much of the "ferry incident" that had happened all those years ago. "Okay, clearly, I won't get the truth outta you. JARVIS, where is Peter?"

"Uh...end call!" Peter instructed JARVIS, before turning his watch off for safe measure. _Whew, that was close._

"HEY-" Tony began, before he was cut off.

XXXXXXXXX

Peter got off the elevator, and began walking towards his apartment, when he heard the distressed voices of his aunt and uncle.

"You heard the landlord, May! If we don't pay rent this month, we'll get an eviction notice! And my job is laying people off like crazy right now, and I don't exactly have seniority. Even with your paycheck coming next week, we'll still be short," Ben said nervously. "What are we gonna tell Peter if we get kicked out of here?"

"Ben, honey, we'll be fine. Your boss loves you, you won't get laid off. I'm going to start taking extra night shifts, and that should cover the rent. Don't worry, honey, we'll be okay. We always are," May reassured her husband.

"Yeah, you're right. I just worry sometimes, you know? Peter's already had such a hard life, and the last thing he needs is more hardship. I know I'll never replace Richard, but I want to be the best for Peter that I can be," Ben replied sadly.

"You've done a great job as a father figure for Peter. He absolutely adores you, Ben. And we'll figure this rent thing out, just like we always do. We'll be okay," May said as she embraced Ben.

 _Oh no. Aunt May and Uncle Ben are struggling with money because of me!_ Peter thought to himself guiltily as he quickly opened the apartment door and slipped into his room. He thought it was better if Aunt May and Uncle Ben didn't know that he'd heard them.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Peter spent the next week with his watch off, ignoring both Tony and Harley. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to them, he missed them dearly. But the thrill of his new powers, along with the fact that he didn't really feel like facing Tony's wrath for blowing him off, meant that Peter continued to ghost them. While he had thought about telling both Harley and Ned, he quickly realized that that wasn't the best idea. Though Peter loved his two best friends dearly, they were both terrible at keeping secrets.

Peter spent his free time instead, creating artificial spider webs, and testing his new super abilities. He'd finally finished a prototype of his web shooters, and discovered that if he tried to tune in his senses, he could hear and see things from a long distance away.

While Peter was on his way to the abandoned warehouse to practice swinging with his web shooters, he heard some odd banging sounds combined with loud cheering, coming from an old, run down looking building. Peter's curiosity got the best of him, and after putting a ski mask on to disguise his face, he entered the building. The commotion seemed to be happening on the ground floor, and Peter nervously entered the suspicious looking room. Inside, there was a ring set up with two large men fighting one another. Peter watched as one the men pummeled the other to the ground. There was a sign on the side of the ring that read in big, bold letters, **1500 Bucks to Anyone Who Can Stay in the Ring With Crusher Hogan**. _With my new powers, I could take anyone on! And 1500 dollars could help Aunt May and Uncle Ben pay the rent!_

"Anyone else like to try?" The victorious man from the ring (who Peter assumed was Crusher Hogan) asked cockily.

"I would!" Peter squeaked out nervously.

Crusher Hogan burst into laughter. "The little boy in a mask thinks he can take me on!" The rest of the onlookers roared with laughter.

"I'll show them," Peter muttered.

"Ready, little boy?" Crusher Hogan taunted Peter.

"Ready, set, and CRUSH him!" The announcer declared.

Crusher Hogan grinned as he lifted his fist, but his grin soon left his face as Peter easily dodged it. Crushed Hogan went in for a few more hits, but Peter's reflexes were far too fast for an ordinary human. "This is a fight. You can't keep running from me, little boy!"

Peter nervously reached his hand out to gently push Crusher Hogan away, only to find that his super strength had sent the man plummeting to the ground. "Oh my God, sir, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Get away from me, freak!" The Crusher screamed, clearly embarrassed. "There's something weird about you, little boy!"

"Looks like we have a winner!" The announcer said in a shocked tone.

XXXXXXXXXX

After Peter collected his winnings and left the underground fighting ring, he made his way to the abandoned warehouse to test his web shooters like he'd originally planned to do. They had worked surprisingly well for a prototype, and Peter was very proud of his creation.

On Peter's way home, it suddenly occurred to him that it would be kind of suspicious for a ten year old to show up at home with 1500 dollars in tow. _I'll have to hide some of the cash around the house in different places so Aunt May and Uncle Ben think it's just some extra cash that they misplaced._

Peter hummed a Jonas Brothers tune happily as he walked back to his apartment. He quickly hid the 1500 dollars in the storage closet that was rarely used, and strutted into the living room. His happy mood soon disappeared though, as he ran directly into the angry, worried faces of his aunt and uncle.

"Peter! Where have you been? Remember Ned? Your best friend? He came over here tonight, said you guys made plans. He waited here for two hours, before his mom called and said he needed to be home for dinner. What's up with you, Peter? You've been so distracted lately, and now you're blowing off your best friend? This isn't like you at all, Peter. Not to mention the fact that you're ten years old, and you've been out _all night_ ," Ben scolded.

"Oh my God, I totally forgot about that! I was just super distracted and I kind of agreed to it without actually listening and I-" Peter rambled.

Ben cut Peter off before he could finish his sentence. "Right, you forgot. You seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately. By the way, Tony called us and said that you haven't been coming to your lab sessions! You know, the ones you've been claiming to have gone to for the past few weeks?! He's worried about you, and you've been lying to all of us. Also, your Aunt, my wife, took off work early because you promised to do that mother, son tango class with her, remember? Instead, you stood her up and don't even get me started-"

May interrupted Ben. "Ben, honey, honestly, I'm fine. It's alright, we can do tango class another time. For now, I'm just glad he's safe."

"No, don't defend him, May! He made a commitment to you, to Tony, and to Ned, but none of that seemed to mean anything to him! Peter needs to learn to respect others. It's more than just the junior internship, tango class and missed play date," Ben responded. "Peter, your father believed that if you are put in the position where you're able to help people, then you have a moral obligation to help them. With great power, comes great responsibility. That's what is at stake here."

Ben's raised voice took a toll on Peter's senses. While Peter had finally started getting used to the heightened senses, Ben's loud yelling, combined with his heightened emotions, proved too much for Peter to handle. Before Peter even fully comprehended what he was about to say, the regretful words were already spilling out of his mouth. "Oh, really? Wow, I guess I wouldn't know that, considering the fact that he died when I was four. And, if he really believed that, then why was he constantly out of the house when I was younger? He seemed to believe that his work was more important to his family, so it doesn't seem like he followed his own advice, now did he? If he'd been around more when I was young, then, maybe, he wouldn't have died on that plane to his stupid meeting, and maybe my mom would be alive too! His stupid work ethic killed my mom! Stop acting like I should aspire to be like him! I hate him, I would be ashamed to be like him!"

"How dare you! Your father was a great man. You're too young to understand the sacrifices my brother made for you!" Ben yelled, his face full of nothing but pain.

"No, how dare _you_? I hate you, I wish the stupid CPS people had never sent me to live here! I'm leaving!" Peter screamed back, slamming the door behind him. The door to their apartment shattered into pieces, which subsequently fell to the ground.

As Peter walked through the apartment hallway, his heightened senses allowed him to hear his aunt and uncle.

"Ben..." May began, most likely putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going after him," Ben declared. "It's far too late for a kid to be out alone in New York City. He was in the wrong, but I was also wrong to be so hard on him."

"Please, be safe honey. I love you," May said. Peter's heard the ruffling of his Guardians' clothing, and assumed that they were hugging.

"Love you, too. And don't worry, I'll find Peter. We will both be fine," Ben said reassuringly.

"I won't be found until I want to be, Uncle Ben," Peter muttered to himself coolly.

XXXXXXXXX

Peter angrily ran into the streets of Queens, New York, tears streaming down his face. He hadn't meant anything that he had said earlier, and Uncle Ben was right, he had been selfish and irresponsible. His stomach growled loudly as he ran, as he hadn't eaten anything for over six hours. Peter spotted a convenience store, and quickly ran in. He grabbed a sandwich out of the fridge and went to the cash register.

"Just this?" The cashier asked. Peter nodded in response. "That'll be $6.05," he informed Peter.

Peter counted out $6.04 and handed it to the man. "I said $6.05," The man said gruffly.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't have an extra penny. I'm sorry, I can come back tomorrow and give it to you! I'm really hungry, sir," Peter pleaded.

"What? Your mommy didn't give you enough money for a sammich?" The cashier mocked Peter cruelly. "If you don't have the money, you don't get the food, those are the rules," he barked.

Peter sighed and left dejectedly. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter noticed a guy in a black hat and sunglasses knock over the items on the display case, much to the cashier's dismay. "Seriously, dude?"

The burglar took the opportunity to clear out the cash register, and tossed Peter his sandwich on the way out. Peter felt conflicted as he knew he should help the cashier, but he was hungry, and the burglar had been a heck of a lot nicer to him than the guy behind the counter.

"Hey, kid, a little help? Just trip the guy for me, will you? I could lose my job if he gets off with the money!" The cashier pleaded.

Peter hesitated for a moment before he said, "not my problem." Peter found a bench nearby, and ate his sandwich. He found it hard to swallow as the guilt took over. _With great power, comes great responsibility. Oh, Ben, I'm sorry, I should've helped the guy, I shouldn't have been so selfish._ From a distance, Peter heard a man scream as a gunshot went off. Peter quickly ran over to the scene, only to find the body of his beloved uncle lying on the street.

"No, no, no, no! Uncle Ben, please, Uncle Ben. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I killed you, I'm so sorry," Peter sobbed. Peter then noticed the burglar from the convenience store pick the gun off the ground and quickly run off. Peter was tempted to chase the man, but instead stayed with his dying uncle. Uncle Ben needed him.

"Pet..er 's okay," Ben stuttered out as he struggled to breathe. "Not...your fault. Pete..'s gonna be alright," Ben said, looking like he was trying to smile. It came out more like a grimace. "Your father would be proud."

"JARVIS, call an ambulance!" Peter yelled desperately. "Uncle Ben, I'm so sorry, it is my fault. This is all my fault. I'm gonna be better, I'm gonna be better for you. I'm gonna make you proud."

"You've...al..ready made me proud, son. I 'ove you,'' Ben wheezed out, struggling to draw breath. "Jus'...take care of May. Tell her I love her, will ya?"

"I will, I will, I'm so sorry Uncle Ben. I'm so sorry!" Peter cried out. Peter held his uncle's hand as his breathing became more and more labored, until, finally, the wheezing stopped. "I'll help everyone that I can, Ben. I'll do it for you," Peter declared, thinking of his powers and Tony's Iron Spider suit. That night, after Peter Parker got up and dried his tears, the courageous hero, Spider-man, was truly born.


	12. RIP Ben Parker

"So, tell me again, why have you still not proposed to Pepper? I was under the impression that you already had the ring ready. I never took you as the kind of guy to chicken out at the last second. Actually, I take that back, you totally _do_ chicken out when you have a good thing going," Natasha said, sounding unapologetic.

"Correction, that sounds exactly like the _old_ me. The _new_ me is much better at dealing with emotional shit. I see what I want, and I go for it. Anyway, I was going to propose to her, but I've just got a lot on my mind recently," Tony said. "I'm worried about Peter. He's been avoiding my calls for the past couple of weeks, and hasn't been down to the lab since he got sick. He was supposed to come down here the other day, but blatantly lied to my face to get out of it. Harley said that Peter hasn't been very receptive on his line either. It's just so unlike him."

"All kids go through a rebellious phase, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I know Cooper gave Clint and Laura a ton of headaches when he reached his preteen years. And if Peter continues the cycle, just go over there and see him for yourself. If he's going through something, he's probably too in his head to realize that he needs to reach out for help," Natasha said thoughtfully.

"Wow, Mama Widow, I never imagined that you had any maternal instincts when I met you working as a double-agent," Tony said jokingly. "Who knew that the stone cold assassin had a heart? God knows that Peter loves you. You're just so natural with him. Maybe you could talk to-"

"Sir, Peter Parker has just called for an ambulance," JARVIS informed Tony.

"What? Why? What happened? Is he okay?" Tony asked anxiously.

"Mr Parker appears to be in good physical health. Unfortunately, his uncle was shot by a street mugger. The EMTs should be arriving soon, however, I have just conducted a full body scan, and Ben Parker appears to be deceased," JARVIS reported.

"WHAT?!" Tony shouted in disbelief. "But...this isn't supposed to happen until 2015! How is this happening? Oh God, Peter! I can't believe this, I've completely fucked everything up, and now I've killed Ben Parker. I was supposed to save everyone, this was a second chance to make things right. I'm so sorry, Peter. Oh my God," Tony collapsed on the floor, his anxiety taking over.

Natasha rubbed a soothing hand on his back, but Tony could see that she too, was shaken. Tony couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. If they couldn't save this one person, how could they know that they weren't just making everything worse instead of better? If anything, it seemed like everything was going horribly wrong, considering that Harley's family had suffered fatal consequences as a result their time travel changes. And poor Peter, he'd been young the last time Ben had died, but right now? He was 5 years younger than last time. Who knew how he'd deal with the trauma at an even younger age?

"God, I'm a failure. I'm a piece of shit. This is all my fault. If I'd just gone over to the Parkers' and checked on them, then maybe this wouldn't have happened," Tony sobbed, letting his emotions completely take over.

"Tony, you said it yourself, Ben died on a completely different day last time. There's no way you could have known. There's no way _we_ could have known. The best thing we can do right now is be there for Peter. When you mess with time, it tends to mess back. But at least we have a chance to _try_ and make things better. We have a second chance, and extra time with our loved ones, which is more than I could have ever asked for. Yes, this is a shitty thing, but wallowing in self doubt and pity won't help anyone. Be there for Peter. Listen to what he needs, and if he won't talk to you, then just sit there with him. He's going to need you," Natasha said.

"You're right, you're right," Tony said, taking a few deep breaths, trying to collect himself. "JARVIS, what hospital is Ben being taken to?"

"St Joseph's, sir," JARVIS informed him. Tony nodded at Natasha before letting his nantech suit encase his body. He then swiftly picked Natasha up, and flew off.

XXXXXXXX

Tony and Natasha rushed into the hospital as soon as they arrived. "We're here for Ben Parker," Tony informed the lady at the front desk.

"You can head to the waiting room on the third floor. Some of his family members have already arrived."

As soon as Tony and Natasha stepped off the elevator, they spotted a very distraught May attempting to comfort her traumatized nephew.

"I'm so sorry, Aunt May, this is all my fault," Peter sobbed into his aunt's shoulder. May didn't appear to be faring much better, as she just hugged Peter tighter, and sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hey, kid," Tony said softly. "'JARVIS told me what happened. I'm so sorry, kid."

Peter slowly let go of his aunt and looked at Tony, eyes full of nothing but remorse. "I'm so sorry, Tony. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have worried all of you, and I'm sorry for ignoring you. Uncle Ben was right, I was being irresponsible. I swear I didn't mean for any of this to happen, and now he's dead, and it's all my fault," Peter choked out, before collapsing on the floor.

"Shhhhh…" Tony whispered soothingly, rubbing Peter's back. "You're alright, kid. This was no one's fault but the dick who shot your uncle. It's alright, Pete. I got you," Tony leaned down, and sat on the ground beside Peter. Tony had never considered himself an expert on comforting others, but consoling Peter came naturally to him. Tony wrapped his arms around his kid and just let the kid get his emotions out.

Tony noticed that Natasha had sat next to May on the hospital bench. The two women embraced, and Natasha rubbed a soothing hand on May's back. Tony had almost forgotten that the two of them had met quite a few times, and that Natasha had experienced more loss than most people in her lifetime, which made her capable of providing comfort for the other woman.

XXXXXXXXX

May knew she looked disheveled, with her uncombed hair, and blotchy red face, but at the current moment, she couldn't bring herself to care. She'd always been a fashionable woman. Her friends often said that she made her Walmart wardrobe look more expensive than the outfits worn during Fashion Week on the runway. Yet, she currently sat at her kitchen table in her dead husband's old football jersey (the one she used to try to goad him into throwing away on a daily basis), just feeling rather apathetic about everything. She knew that she needed to be strong for her ten year old nephew, who was currently even more broken than she was. Peter was only ten years old, and he'd not only witnessed the death of his uncle, but he believed it to be his fault. Despite May's constant reassurances that what had happened to Ben was in no way his fault, Peter still seemed no closer to believing it. Peter was having trouble making eye contact with May lately, and she had a feeling that his guilt over Ben's death was the culprit behind this uncharacteristic behavior.

May looked through the stack of papers piled on the kitchen table with a feeling of trepidation. She knew that she needed to get started on paying the bills. Neither she nor Ben had taken out a life insurance policy because of their young age. It just seemed unlikely that it would be necessary, and it never crossed either of their minds. Even with an unknown amount of cash that she'd found hidden in a storage closet (she deduced that Ben must have hidden it there a while ago for a rainy day, and forgotten about it), she could barely cover the funeral costs. And there was also the impending eviction threat if she could not scavenge enough money to pay rent. Their landlord was not an empathetic man, and she knew that if she didn't come up with a solution soon, she and her nephew would be out on the street.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._ Someone was at the door. While May knew that she should appreciate all the support from her friends (and she did appreciate everyone who brought food, because out of the two of them, Ben was definitely the cook of the family), she wasn't sure if she could handle listening to another one of her friends talk about trivial things. Everyone walked on eggshells around her, and they talked about things that they believed to be 'safe', such as the latest gossip, and the new PTA project that everyone believed to be a complete boondoggle. May understood that they were just trying to cheer her up, but it was hard to listen to life go on when Ben's life had been cut short. It took all the self-control she had to not get up and scream, 'I don't give a fuck if Cindy kissed Molly's husband, George! I just want _my_ husband back!'

May opened the door to find none other than Tony Stark standing on the other side. "Hey, Tony," May greeted him.

"Hey, May," Tony replied. "Can I come in?" At May's nod, Tony stepped inside. "Where's Underoos? How is he?" Tony asked.

"He's been over at Ned's house all day. He thinks Ben's death is his fault, and he's been taking it really hard. I think Ned's helping him take his mind of all of this, at least. As you can see, I'm absolutely peachy. With the funeral costs, and this month's rent, we're really stretched thin and I'm just trying to make this all work," May said anxiously. "And I've never been great at coping in times of crisis, that was always Ben's forte…"

"Oh, speaking of funeral costs, I came here to discuss exactly that. I think that if you call the funeral home, you'll find that an anonymous person made a rather munificent donation, and that all costs are paid for," Tony said, looking remorseful. May had noticed that the man had taken Ben's death extremely personally, and acted as if he was responsible. Perhaps, being a superhero created a huge guilt complex.

"Oh, Tony, you shouldn't have. Honestly, we don't need your charity. I'm grateful, I really am, but Peter and I will be able to figure something out," May said with embarrassment.

"Hey, I said it was an anonymous donor for a reason. I never said it was me. Besides, even if it _was_ me, you're forgetting that I'm a billionaire. I have more money than I could ever spend anyway. Also, you guys are family to me at this point, it would be absurd not to help out," Tony replied. "Plus, it's already been done, so there's nothing you can really do at this point," Tony pointed out.

May got up and embraced Tony, sobbing. "Thank you so much, Tony. I swear, I'll pay you back soon. It really means a lot to me. Ben and I have really been struggling with money lately, and this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. It's been so hard just getting up every day in this apartment. Every time I look around, I just see Ben. The couch has a coffee stain in the corner, because Ben never listened to me when I told him he wasn't allowed to drink anything but water on the couch. The kitchen table just feels so empty, because his seat shouldn't be vacant. Hell, I've been sleeping on the couch lately, because it feels so wrong to be sleeping on our bed without him. Sometimes I reach over to the side in the middle of the night, expecting him to take my hand, but no one's there. There's just...so many memories in this house, but it's...overwhelming. I think that's why Peter's been staying over at Ned's...it's just too painful for him to look at this place and be reminded of Ben," May sobbed into her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. You're probably busy. Thank you, Tony. We really appreciate this. I'll tell Peter to call you when he gets back."

"Actually, ever since I handed my company over to Pepper, my schedule has been wide open. Of course, there are still some things I still have to do for Stark Industries, but I am not nearly as busy as my wife..er...girlfriend. And if you want a different place to stay, at least for a little bit, Avengers tower has plenty of extra living spaces. I could get you and Peter a floor. Temporary or permanent, whatever you want. You guys are just as much family as the Avengers, it's only fair that you have rooms there. I know what it's like to be bombarded with old memories every time you look at a place," Tony said.

May recalled the time Tony had mentioned how he'd never returned to his childhood home after his parents had passed away. Perhaps, he was thinking about that.

"I could still pay the rent on this place so you can return when you guys are ready," Tony offered.

"Oh, Tony, that's very sweet of you, but you're already doing so much. We couldn't possibly accept that. Peter and I can always move somewhere cheaper, I wouldn't feel right just letting you pay for everything…"

"Oh, trust me, you'd be doing me a favor. I have way too many open rooms that are just going to waste. Clint's going to insist on opening a casino on one of the floors if I don't fill them up soon. Not to mention, I don't really want the building open to anyone, so I only want people I trust to have access to it. You guys are perfect. Plus, Harley already thinks of Peter as a brother, and he'd love having Peter at the tower. And you can really stop worrying about the money, like I mentioned before, I'm a billionaire, I have a plethora of disposable income," Tony said, trying to persuade May. "What if I let you pay rent? It'll be really casual, you can just pay what you can, when you can. That work?" Tony asked.

After half an hour of trying to convince May, she finally relented. She agreed to talk to Peter about moving into the tower, and see what he thought. Since she made it very clear that she would definitely not let Tony continue to pay rent on their old apartment, if they moved into the tower, it would be long term. Towards the end of the conversation, May actually found that she was slightly excited at the prospect of moving out of the apartment, as she had never really liked it that much in the first place (she'd always thought the layout was rather off-putting).

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter entered the church where Ben's funeral was being held with a feeling of consternation. He hated attention, and he wasn't sure if he could face all of the grieving people, knowing that Ben's death was all _his_ fault. He gripped his aunt's hand tightly, until May flinched in pain. Oops...he needed to get used to managing his superstrength. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt someone because he couldn't control his powers.

When May had asked Peter if he'd be willing to move out of their apartment, he'd jumped on the offer. Being around so many memories of Ben had been driving him crazy, and sometimes it felt like he might never be able to move on. At first, he'd felt a scintilla of guilt for being so willing to leave his childhood home behind, but when May said that it was she wanted as well, Peter felt a bit better.

Several people talked about their fond memories of Ben during the service. His work friends described how he 'lit up every room he walked in' and was 'a ray of sunshine'. Some of his college friends regaled them with tales of their more 'wild' adventures. Peter found himself tuning out after a while. Everyone's speeches seemed so...rehearsed and cliche. Something about it all felt a bit disingenuous. Perhaps he was being a bit hypercritical. Peter had been too young to remember what his parents' funerals had been like, but after sitting through Ben's, he decided that he really, really _execrated_ funerals.

Peter and May had elected not to speak, as they were both in such fragile emotional states that they thought it better to do their eulogies in private the night before. And after listening to far too many people say the same thing over and over again, Peter was glad that he and May had had a more genuine, private ceremony the previous night.

Peter walked into the room for the after service reception. To Peter's surprise, the entirety of the Avengers team was gathered in the front corner of the room, along with Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Harley Keener, and a brunette lady that Peter recognized as Thor's girlfriend, Jane Foster. _What are the Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes, doing here?_

Tony seemed to notice Peter right away, and waved him over. "Hey, kid," he said as he embraced Peter. "I know it's been a super overwhelming day for you, but I just wanted to know that we're all here for you. We're all family." The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

Harley and Pepper joined in on the embrace. "You were there for me when my mom and sister died, and you can come to me with anything. You are my brother, Peter. We're hero buddies," Harley said, which comforted Peter.

The rest of the group took turns embracing Peter. It was a bit surprising to him, as he didn't quite understand why the Avengers cared about him so much. But he was touched, nonetheless.

"Young Starkson, I know what it is like to lose someone you hold very dear. I apologize for this trying situation, and just know that if the culprit behind this is ever found, I will show no mercy," Loki declared. Loki ruffled Peter's hair in an uncharacteristic show of affection. Peter smiled at the Norse God in appreciation and blushed, as he was rather embarrassed by all of the attention.

"Hey, we haven't officially met, I'm Jane," Jane Foster introduced herself. "I'm really sorry for your loss. Thor tells me you're really brave. Just remember that being brave doesn't mean you can't ask for help. I've got a guest room in the tower now, so we'll probably be seeing a lot more of each other. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Thor and I have been researching some wormholes that have been popping up around the world, and our next stop is England. When we get back, I hope we'll be able to spend more time together."

"Thanks, Ms Foster," Peter said politely.

"Call me Jane," she replied kindly. "I know Thor and Loki see you as family, so there's no reason we can't be the same."

Though Peter knew that there would always be a hole in his heart with Ben gone, after hearing what his new family had to say, for the first time in days, he smiled.

XXXXXXXXX

"Something's off about Peter," Tony stated. Natasha was accompanying Tony in the lab as they planned their, what had been dubbed by Tony, the 'Time Heist 2.0' (much to Natasha's dismay, she thought it was rather silly).

"I know what you mean," Natasha said thoughtfully. "He's definitely hiding something. The other day, he was definitely doing something in the training room when I walked in. He lied to me and said he just wanted a quiet place to do homework. But, the kid's a terrible liar. He didn't have his textbooks or a paper and pencil, and he was out of breath. He said he just wanted to admire Cap's equipment, as a fanboy (which under most circumstances, I could believe), but he looked shifty as fuck."

"I know that death can do different things to different people. When my parents died, I spent the next five months of my life drunk off my ass. But Peter's been back to his normal self for the most part, but something's just been...off. I can't quite place my finger on it. JARVIS, do you know what is going on with Peter?" Tony asked.

"Define what 'what's going on with Peter' means. There have been some physical changes that have been occurring with Mr Parker, but he has sworn me to secrecy," JARVIS replied.

"What do you mean 'sworn you to secrecy'? You're _my_ AI, I have all the override codes!" Tony exclaimed.

"I understand. And yes, sir, you do have the authority to the information. I was merely informing you of Mr Parker's request," JARVIS replied, clearly unphased by Tony's attitude.

"How long have you known this 'secret' of Peter's?" Tony asked.

"A month," JARVIS replied.

"And why am I just hearing about this now? Also, what _is_ this physical change of Peter's?" Tony demanded.

"I have not informed you until now because you never specified the information you wanted from Mr Parker. If you had asked about any physical changes to Mr Parker, I would have informed you long ago. My code only requires me to inform you if you specifically ask for the information. And due to Mr Parker's request for secrecy, I did not inform you immediately," JARVIS said matter-of-factly. "But when you and Mr Parker visited Oscorp Industries, Mr Parker wandered into a secure laboratory. In said laboratory, he was exposed to a radioactive spider. From my physical scans of Mr Parker, his DNA has been altered, which has led to some physical changes including an increase in strength, an addition of a natural adhesive on his skin that allows him to stick to surfaces, and heightened senses."

"What the fuck? Oscorp Industries? Radioactive Spider? Oh My fucking God, Peter's got Spider powers at age ten! How is this happening? I need to go talk to that kid before he decides to become a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man like I know he's probably planning to do! I knew he was hiding something from me! I'm gonna have a talk with him!" Tony exclaimed.

Natasha rubbed Tony's arm soothingly. "Maybe I should do it. If you go in there all hot headed with an accusatory tone, he's just going to get upset."

XXXXXXXXXX

Natasha entered the kitchen, where Peter currently was eating what looked like an entire box of pop tarts. "You know, I'm pretty sure there's more sugar in those than what you need in an entire day."

"Oh, hi, Nat. And I'm pretty sure there's no daily requirement for sugar, just an upper limit. We learned that in health class," Peter responded conversationally.

Natasha picked up the coffee pitcher and poured some into her mug. She intentionally placed the mug on the edge of the table, on the opposite side of where Peter was sitting. Before the mug had a chance to fall even a couple of inches off the table, Peter rushed over, catching the mug almost instantaneously.

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Nice reflexes," she said suspiciously. "And great speed too. I didn't realize you were so athletic. You sprinted over here _really_ fast."

Peter laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess I've gotten a little better at running. I was thinking of joining the track team," he replied, undoubtedly lying.

Natasha walked over to the knife holder, and picked up a rather large knife. She swiftly threw the knife Peter's way, being careful to aim an inch away from his face (just in case somehow, JARVIS was wrong about the whole superpowers thing).

Peter gasped, clearly shocked, before quickly reacting, and catching the knife easily. "What the heck? You could have killed me!" Peter exclaimed.

"But I didn't," Natasha pointed out.

"Well, if I didn't have superpowers, it definitely would have killed me! Whoops, did I just say that out loud?" Peter said nervously, most likely realizing that his secret was out.

"Yep. Sorry, kid. But Tony's been worried sick about you, and I guess it never occurred to him that you had somehow found some way to get your powers early. That is, until JARVIS ratted you out ten minutes ago. Also, I was very careful to make sure the knife was far enough away from your head that it would've gone right past you had you not had spider powers," Natasha replied.

"What does she mean by me getting my powers early? Eh, it's Nat. She's always acting like she knows everything. Heck, she does know everything. Sometimes, it's like she has the power to tell the future. Perhaps, my future theory is true! Or...maybe it's just a spy thing...But also, I'm so screwed, they're onto me! Just act natural, yeah, that'll do it," Peter muttered to himself, obviously unaware that Natasha had heard everything. After all, as a spy, her senses had to be quite good.

"What if I'd freaked out and moved towards the knife and I didn't have powers?" Peter asked.

"Well, I already knew about the powers because of JARVIS, and you gave yourself away during that coffee test earlier. And if you really hadn't had powers, I have fast reflexes too. There's no way you would've gotten hurt," Natasha replied.

"Really? Because no offense, like you're totally awesome and everything, and you're totally and completely a badass, like if I didn't know you, I'd be terrified, I mean I know you and I'm still terrified...but, aren't you a regular human? Like, no superpowers, or anything?" Peter asked curiously.

Natasha just shrugged cryptically in response. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Pete. Let's head down to the training room. You need to get in the ring with me, we're training. You could learn a thing or two. Unchecked and untrained powers can become dangerous. Plus, knowing you, you're probably going to be just like your dad and become some kind of reckless hero. The least I can do is make sure that you are prepared. Also, you need to tell your aunt. I'll give you two days. If you don't tell her, I will. Do we have a deal?"

"Do I have a choice?" Peter asked.

Natasha gave him a look that said, 'what do you think?' No, Natasha would never let Peter walk around with uncontrolled powers.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell Aunt May. But she'll never let me be a hero. Especially after what happened with Uncle Ben. But...ugh, training with _the_ Black Widow is really cool…" Peter rambled on.

"Good choice, kid. Let's get going," Natasha ordered. "Just a warning, I don't go easy in the ring, just ask Happy. I'm pretty sure he still has a scar from when he gave me a 'lesson'."


	13. Summertime

_Previously…_

_Natasha just shrugged cryptically in response. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Pete. Let's head down to the training room. You need to get in the ring with me, we're training. You could learn a thing or two. Unchecked and untrained powers can become dangerous. Plus, knowing you, you're probably going to be just like your dad and become some kind of reckless hero. The least I can do is make sure that you are prepared. Also, you need to tell your aunt. I'll give you two days. If you don't tell her, I will. Do we have a deal?"_

" _Do I have a choice?" Peter asked._

_Natasha gave him a look that said, 'what do you think?'_

" _Okay, fine, I'll tell Aunt May. But she'll never let me be a hero. Especially after what happened with Uncle Ben. But...ugh, training with the Black Widow is really cool…" Peter rambled on._

" _Good choice, kid. Let's get going," Natasha ordered. "Just a warning, I don't go easy in the ring, just ask Happy. I'm pretty sure he still has a scar from when he gave me a 'lesson'."_

"You can't win a fight if you spend the whole time running and dodging!" Natasha yelled.

"But...I thought you said that lesson one was that you shouldn't engage in a fight, unless absolutely necessary," Peter wheezed out as he dodged Natasha's fist again.

"Yes, that's true. But if someone's trying to knock you out, you need to be able to defend yourself. You can't just sit back and let them kick your ass! Self defense is lesson two!" Natasha replied, lifting her leg up, and jamming it into Peter's stomach successfully.

"Ow," the young boy whined. "What was that for?" Peter groaned, and for a moment, Natasha considered giving him a break. But...if this was the same kid that had gotten himself involved in an _alien invasion_ , he would need the toughest training he could get. After all, enemies like Thanos wouldn't go easy on him, just because he was a cute kid.

"We're training. If your enemy attacks, and all you do is dodge, you're going to get yourself killed. You can't run forever! Either you hit back, or you die," Natasha responded fervently. "Anyway, you're too easy to hit. You might have superpowers, but it's too easy to anticipate your moments. They're predictable, and especially if you don't hit back, you're going to perish out there in the real world," Natasha stated matter-of-factly. "Now, the next time I come at you, I need you to hit me."

"What?" Peter asked, clearly alarmed at the thought.

 _He'll naturally defend himself if he's caught off guard…that's the only way to get this sweet kid to hit me. That way, he won't even realize what he's doing until after the fact..._ Without any warning, Natasha lunged at Peter, and swiftly wrapped her legs around Peter's neck. Before she could take him down with her signature "scissor legs", Peter easily threw her off, and kicked her across the ring. It was rather painful, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle.

"O-O-Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Nat. I don't know what got into me. I didn't mean to do that? Are you okay?" Peter asked. The poor kid _really_ looked distressed.

Natasha ignored the searing pain, and quickly jumped back up. "That was good. Lesson three, don't apologize to your enemies right after they just tried to kill you. If you let your emotions get in the way, you'll get distracted, and leave an opening for them to come back at you."

"S-S-So you're really okay?" Peter stammered out.

"Of course I'm okay. I'm Black Widow, former assassin and Russian spy. I know over 30 ways to kill someone with a _fork_ , and have endured torture, this is nothing," Natasha answered with a shrug. She then raised her knee, and Peter leaned his back backwards, and tried to dodge it again. Unfortunately for the poor kid, Natasha ended up slamming her knee into Peter's chest, instead of his legs. The kid fell over, landing face first.

"We're not done yet?" Peter asked incredulously.

"We are done when I say we are done," Natasha replied. "What happened to your defense skills? I thought I told you to hit back when I come for you!"

"B-But…" Peter began.

"No buts," Natasha replied. "If you want to be a hero, you have to be prepared for what's out there. When aliens fall out of the sky again, you can't show them any mercy," Natasha added, doing her best to avoid Peter's puppy dog eyes. If she wanted Peter to survive, she couldn't be soft with him.

"You're sure I won't hurt you?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"Positive," Natasha replied. "And if you do kill me, you'll be able to tell the world that you were the one who took down _the_ Black Widow. No kid will ever pick on you again, after that. You'll be the tough guy. It's a win-win for you either way," Natasha reassured Peter.

"B-But I don't _want_ to kill you. I love you," Peter admitted. He then turned away from Natasha and blushed. He probably hadn't meant to confess his love for Natasha.

"I love you too, Peter," Natashaa replied sincerely. "That's why we're doing this. If you don't want to be a hero, that's fine, that's great, actually. We can stop the training right here...if you want. But if you walk out that door right now, you have to promise not to get involved when danger comes, even if it could mean saving other people. I won't let you be a hero if you aren't ready, I don't want to see you get hurt. I was trained from a young age, and it was tough. The place I was put in wasn't the nicest place, to say the least, but the skills I learned there kept me alive. You can't be a hero if you aren't ready. Understand?" Natasha asked.

"Y-Yes," Peter stuttered.

"Now, are you staying, or are we done?" Natasha asked.

"I'm staying," Peter replied, suddenly looking determined.

"Alright then," Natasha answered as she raised her fist.

XXXXXXX

"Wooooooo!" Peter yelled out in excitement. Even a month into summer break (which allowed for more patrol time), Peter was still just as enthusiastic every time he went out. He smiled inside his suit as he swung through the streets of New York.

When he'd first told his Aunt May about his powers, she was adamant that he not try to be a hero on the streets. Peter, of course, understood where she was coming from, as her husband, and his uncle, had been killed in the same place just a short time before. Upon realizing that Peter was going to continue patrolling, no matter what she did to try and stop him, she'd asked Tony to put some safety measures in place. There was a camera in his Iron Spider suit, and Tony was warned every single time Peter got so much as a scratch. Aunt May had insisted on having an adult accompany him during his patrols at first, and while Tony liked that idea, Peter didn't like having to be babysat while he was out Spidermanning! No criminal would take him seriously if he had Iron Man, Hawkeye, or Black Widow checking him over for boo boos while he waited for the apprehended "bad guy" to get picked up by the cops.

Aunt May, Tony, and Peter ended up working out a compromise. Peter had at least one Avenger supervising him three days a week, just so they could ensure Peter wasn't being too reckless out there. Also, if Peter never fell behind on his school work, hed be banned from going out as Spider-Man until he got his grades up.

Peter supposed that most kids would love the opportunity to work with the Avengers, but when the Avengers were with him on patrol, they were like overbearing parents, rather than a coworker working together with Spider-Man.

If Peter had to choose one, his favorite chaperone so far would have to be Natasha, since she was a sneaky spy who mostly stayed out of the way, unless Peter was injured (even if that injury was something as small as a paper cut). Half the time when Natasha was chaperoning, he couldn't even tell where she was, even with his Spidey-Sense. Natasha's cool spy skills never failed to impress him.

Yesterday afternoon Thor and Loki had supervised him, and it had been a horrible catastrophe. Thor had insisted on carrying Peter bridal style through the streets of New York, after Peter had nearly been hit by a pigeon while swinging. Apparently, the Asgardian version of the bird shot out lethal venom, and Thor didn't believe Peter when he told him that while rude, pigeons were relatively harmless. It had been mortifying, especially after seeing the pictures in the news articles the next day. Peter ended up having to stop Loki from stabbing every criminal that tried to fight back against Peter (seriously, what was with that guy and knives?). The Asgardians had no concept of subtlety, which had gotten rather annoying when Peter just wanted to help an old lady across the street, but Loki was attracting the attention of a bunch of passersby by creating funny illusions of himself. Thor often threw Mjolnir around, and summoned lightning when crime was slow. All in all, Peter was glad that Tony had agreed to not send the Asgardians as chaperones _ever again_.

Tony hadn't been a bad chaperone either. While he was definitely overprotective at times, he was also able to stay back and let Peter handle certain things. Peter also had to admit that it was really fun to swing side by side with a flying Iron Man. That was like a childhood dream come true.

While Harley had complained about not being allowed to patrol with Peter, he also recognized that as a kid with no superpowers, he just wasn't ready to go out there. Harley instead took up talking to Peter on the comms, and helping Peter listen to live police feeds, pointing him to places where people needed help.

Sometimes, Peter wished that he could tell Ned about Spider-Man, but as much as he loved his friend, Ned had a big mouth. His identity needed to stay secret if he wanted a normal life, and Ned was a liability. Also, with being the superfan that he was, Ned would geek out (like he did every time he came over to Avengers tower), and Peter wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with Ned's never ending questions about his powers. Even when Ned had come over to the tower, Peter always strategically avoided any rooms where the Avengers may be. It wasn't that he was embarrassed by Ned, but he knew that if Ned met a bunch of his heroes at once, he might actually die of shock. So far, Tony was the only one who had met his best friend.

Thankfully, today was a chaperone-free day, so Peter didn't have to worry about an overbearing Avenger treating him like a fragile China doll. He could just focus on helping people, like his Uncle Ben wanted him to do. Yes, he would continue to do right by his beloved late uncle. He'd do it every day for the rest of his life.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Movie night in the common room!" Tony announced through the tower intercom.

One by one, the Avengers (plus May, Pepper, Harley, and Peter), arrived in the common room.

"What is this 'movie' that you speak of, Man of Iron?" Thor asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Is it food? I would much appreciate a movie with poptarts," Thor added, rubbing his stomach.

"No, Point Break. It isn't food. But if you want poptarts, you can grab some from the kitchen yourself," Tony responded, amused.

"Brother, a movie tells a story, like a book. But instead of reading, there are moving pictures on a screen," Loki answered. "Honestly, how do you have a Midgardian girlfriend, but know less about Midgard than I do?" Loki teased.

"Jane is an intellectual woman. She often talks about numbers and science. Many a time, I have fallen asleep while she was explaining her theories," Thor explained. "Don't tell her I said that," Thor added sheepishly, obviously scared of the backlash from Jane.

"Hey, where is your hottie girlfriend?" Tony asked, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

"Tony!" Pepper smacked him in the arm.

"Sorry, Pep," Tony answered, pecking his wife...girlfriend on the cheek apologetically. "But seriously, Point Break, where is she? Weren't you guys on some kind of science trip around the world?"

"Yes, but Jane thought it better that she continue her research without distractions," Thor admitted. "However, she will be back in London in a few months, where I shall join her there. For now, she has told me to 'FaceTime her'. I do not know how to do that, nor what it is, but young Peter and Harley have agreed to teach me all about it."

"Guess that you were just too...appealing to her. I bet it's hard to get work done while traveling, especially when you have a naked God of Thunder in the same room," Tony snorted.

This time, it was May who smacked Tony. Right in the stomach...it actually hurt quite a bit. While not a superhero, that woman was a force to be reckoned with.

"Can you go just five seconds without making an inappropriate comment? Or is that just too much to ask?" May scowled at Tony.

"Trust me, I've been trying for 15 years," Pepper answered May. "He's rather hopeless in that area."

Steve cleared his throat awkwardly, blushing furiously. The old man was obviously very uncomfortable with the "sensual topic" that had come up. "Can...can we talk about something else?" Steve asked.

"Aw, come on, Cap. You can't be _that_ much of a prude. While my old man didn't spend much time with me, he was always willing to talk about the 'Great Captain America'. I've heard the stories, including...fondue," Tony laughed at the mortified expression on Steve's face.

Steve buried his face into his hands. Tony almost felt bad for the man. Almost.

"Yeah," Tony continued. "Apparently, while Steve was getting frisky with another woman-"

"She came onto me!" Cap interjected defensively.

"Yeah, whatever. Point is, the old man was getting it on with a woman, when his girlfriend, my Aunt Peggy-"

"She wasn't my girlfriend at the time," Cap interrupted again.

"Sheesh, Cap. Let a man finish his sentences! Anyway, Aunt Peggy walks in on them, and she's upset. Then he asks if Aunt Peggy and my dad have been 'fondueing'. You see, Dad had once mentioned getting a late night fondue, as in a late night snack, but Steve thought it was a double entendre!" Tony fell off the couch, laughing his ass off. "Poor, innocent, embarrassed Steve Rogers."

The whole group doubled over with laughter, and Steve looked like he was about to bang his head against the wall.

"What's a double entendre? Peter asked innocently.

"Nothing you need to worry about for a few years, kid," Tony replied, putting his arm around Peter's shoulder.

"I know what it is!" Harley replied eagerly. "I can explain it all to you. Since Mom was always having a bunch of guys over, and they were always really loud in the bedroom, we had the 'birds and bees' talk early."

"I think you should save that for Tony to do. As the Dad, he'll probably want to talk to Peter, and you, as well," Clint said.

"We definitely don't need you corrupting Peter," Natasha looked at Harley pointedly. "Well, I suppose Tony's corrupted him a lot already, but we don't need you adding to the corruption," Natasha joked.

"How did we get onto such an awkward topic?" Tony wondered.

"You're the one who started it," Rhodey pointed out helpfully.

"So...what movie are we watching?" Bruce chimed in, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"Since Harley got to choose last time, I thought it should be up to Peter to decide," Tony answered, turning to Peter.

"Well…" Peter began. "I wanted to rewatch a _Star Wars_ movie…"

There was a chorus of groans.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" Peter insisted. "I was thinking we could watch _Cars_. It's one of my favorite Pixar movies."

"Alright, Friday. Put _Cars_ on," Tony instructed immediately. He was just glad that the kid had picked something other than _Star Wars_ to watch. The kid had forced him to watch those movies far too many times in both the previous timeline, and this one.

While Tony had never been a huge fan of animated films, he had to say that this one was pretty decent. The main character, Lightning Mcqueen, reminded him a lot of Peter in some ways. At least in terms of his enthusiasm and talkativeness. In other ways, Peter was very different. While Lightning Mcqueen could be selfish and cocky, Peter was selfless and humble. But regardless of the character's flaws, Tony quite liked Lightning Mcqueen.

Tony glanced at Peter quickly, before focusing back on the screen.

_Doc Hudson was driving away from Lightning Mcqueen, while Lightning Mcqueen desperately chased after him._

" _Doc, hold it, seriously!" Lightning Mcqueen cried. "Your driving is incredible!" he exclaimed._

" _Wonderful. Now, go away," the doctor replied._

…

" _But...we're the same!" Lightning Mcqueen insisted._

" _We are_ _ **not**_ _the same!" the grumpy doctor fired back._

Tony watched intently as the doctor described his awful crash in '54 that had ruined his career. He'd been replaced by a rookie, and had sworn to stay away from the sport that had caused him so much heartache. Doc Hudson then drove off, leaving a very dismayed Lightning Mcqueen behind. Tony could tell that Lightning Mcqueen was upset, and he himself, was a little disappointed with the older car. Couldn't he tell that the poor, young kid needed a mentor?

Was that what he had been like with Peter at the beginning of the old timeline? Tony had tried to keep his distance from the kid, and the kid had ended up lonely and hurt. Tony realized that the reason he hadn't liked the Doc Hudson character much, was because in some ways, he represented the mistakes he'd made with his kid the first time around. Tony knew the superhero life wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, and used this as an excuse to stay away from the kid. Doc Hudson had experienced something devastating with car racing, and used that as an excuse to keep his past hidden, and shut out a kid who really needed his help. The guy even tipped off the media about Lightning Mcqueen's whereabouts, just to get rid of the kid. Tony had handed off the responsibility of Peter to Happy, so he could keep his distance from Peter during the "homecoming incident". Was Tony any different than this grumpy old man (car)?

Tony smiled as he watched Doc Hudson have a change of heart, and show up at the final race. In the end, Doc Hudson's role as a mentor showed that he was a kind grandpa type, and he and the kid were better off for it.

_I have to be better for Peter this time around. No more staying in the background, and no more keeping my distance. He needs all the help he can get. I need him._

When the movie was over, and JARVIS turned the lights back on, Peter was the first to speak. "How was it? Did you like it, Da...Ton...Mr Stark?"

"Yeah, yeah, kid. It was great," Tony replied, embracing his kid. _Don't worry, Peter, I'll always be here for you from now on._

XXXXXXX

"Hey, J, Pepper wants me to approve the guest list for our wedding. Remove anyone that I wouldn't want there," Tony instructed.

"Will do, sir. Shall I also remove anyone who's ever had sexual relations with you?" JARVIS asked.

Tony spit out his green juice. "Why would you ask that, JARVIS? Of course, get rid of anyone who's ever slept with me. Actually, on second thought, just keep the Avengers, Happy, Peter, May, and Harley. I'd rather keep it small and intimate."

"What about Director Fury, Helen Cho, and Maria Hill?" JARVIS inquired.

"I _suppose_ they can come too," Tony sighed. "Just make sure Nicky boy's invitation is full of snark and cryptic comments," Tony added.

"How mature of you, sir," JARVIS responded sarcastically.

"It's just the way our relationship is. I can't be too nice, or else he'll think it's some kind of a setup," Tony answered with a shrug.

"Sir, Clint Barton is requesting access into your lab," JARVIS informed Tony.

"Why is the Green Arrow not using the vents like he usually does?" Tony asked.

"I believe he would like to speak to you about a more serious, urgent matter, and thought you would react better if you didn't, in his words, 'get scared shitless'," JARVIS replied.

Tony scoffed. "The only one who was scared shitless was him when Thor confronted him about eating all of his poptarts. I'm pretty sure he actually pissed his pants," Tony shook his head. " Let him in, J," Tony requested.

"Hi, Tin Can," Clint said quickly as he practically ran into the lab. "I need your help."

"What can I do for you, Robin Hood?" Tony asked.

Clint vaguely described how SHIELD had him tailing an underground crime ring that they believed to be a threat to national security. Somehow, some of the leaders had discovered Clint's secret family, and their farm house. Clint needed them to move into the tower, either permanently, or temporarily, depending on what happened next.

"Of course they can live here," Tony said fervently. _After all, this is all my fault. Since this didn't happen in the original timeline, I must've done something that caused a chain of events, which led to the endangerment of your family._ Tony swallowed his guilt, and tried to put on a neutral expression.

"Thank you, Tony. I mean it. I wouldn't have asked this of you, after everything you've already done for the team, if I had any other options. I can't lose them, I can't," Clint replied gratefully.

"Don't stress it, Katniss," Tony replied. "Besides, Cooper should be around Peter and Harley's age, right? Maybe a couple years younger. I'm pretty sure they'd love to have another boy their age to play with," Tony added without thinking.

"Wait…" Clint's eyes narrowed. "I didn't say any of my family's names, ages, or genders...how do you know so much?" Clint asked suspiciously.

 _Oh, shit. Think fast, Tony._ "I'm a genius," Tony declared pompously. "I'm a billionaire with a plethora of technology, you really think I wouldn't find out all of your deepest, darkest secrets?" Tony asked. "Don't worry, if I was secretly a supervillain who wanted your family dead, I definitely would've killed them by now."

"That's reassuring…" Clint muttered, not sounding reassured at all.

"If my technology is correct, which it always is, then you have a young daughter named Lila, correct?" Tony asked.

"Yes…she's four," Clint furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused as to where this was going.

"Well, as you know, Pep and I are getting married. The official invitations will be out soon, but why don't we have Lila be the flower girl? Peter and Harley are going to be the ring bearers. Now, I would ask you to be one of the groomsmen, but seeing as the guest list is extremely small, if all of the Avengers were groomsmen, there'd be no one left in the audience."

"Wow, Tin Can. I am deeply hurt," Clint replied, adding a rather awful fake cry. "What about the best man?"

"Sorry, Legolas, you're not exactly best man material," Tony teased. "Happy and Rhodey are my co-best men. Pepper's going to ask Nat to be her maid of honor. I don't think she's doing any bridesmaids, though,"

"Really?" Clint asked incredulously. "I was under the impression that she wasn't the biggest fan of Nat."

"Well, she wasn't. Not at first, anyway. But according to Pep, those two bonded over me. More specifically, complaining about me. The only reason Pepper disliked Nat was because she was under the impression that Natasha and I were in an...intimate relationship.

Clint gagged.

"Right?" Tony scoffed. "If anyone were going to be banging Nat, I would've thought it'd be you."

Clint looked revolted. "Ugh, that's like having sex with my sister!"

"Yeah, well, people often see close friendships, and often assume the dirtiest of them. Besides, she's more into Brucie Bear, but having sex with him...at least now, would be very...painful," Tony winced at the thought.

"Anyway," Clint said, changing the subject. "Fury should be bringing them by soon. I should probably check in with him. Thanks again, Tin Can, I owe you one."

XXXXXXXX

Tony laughed as he twirled his beautiful wife around. The ceremony had been perfect, and it seemed like all of the Avengers and their families were now enjoying their time on the dance floor.

"Well, this is now the second time you're dancing with your boss, in a dress that has no back, isn't it, Miss Potts? Or shall I say, Mrs Potts-Stark?" Tony teased.

"Technically, I'm the CEO now. So, if anything, I'm the boss of you," Pepper countered.

"Oh, really? That's how it is?" Tony asked playfully.

"Yes, seeing as I do more work than you ever did for your company when you were running it," Pepper replied with a smirk.

"You know, if you weren't so beautiful, I might be offended," Tony joked.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry, Mr Stark," Pepper whispered seductively.

"Don't be, since you are absolutely stunning, I take great pleasure in your potentially offensive statements," Tony responded with his eyebrows raised.

"Then I will show you even greater pleasure when we're all alone," Pepper smoldered at him, and in that moment, she looked like a supermodel.

"Now...I like the sound of that," Tony chucked.

The newly married couple was interrupted by Natasha tapping her glass at the front of the room. "I'd like to propose a toast to Tony and Pepper. When I first met Tony Stark, I couldn't imagine what such a strong, independent woman like Pepper, would want anything to do with him."

Everyone chortled. "Thanks, Nat," Tony muttered.

"But when I really got to know Tony, I learned that not only does he really have a heart, and a big one at that, but he's fiercely loyal, strong, and selfless. Now, Tony can be extremely reckless, and at times arrogant, but Pepper is the exact opposite of that. With her to take care of him, Tony should be able to function at least somewhat normally," Natasha continued.

The wedding guests chuckled again.

"I know it's a cliche thing to say, but Tony and Pepper were a match made in Heaven. They complement each other perfectly, and I can't imagine one without the other. I'm so happy for you guys," Natasha said sincerely. "To Tony and Pepper," Natasha finished, raising her glass.

"To Tony and Pepper," the group chorused.

A few toasts and a few drinks later, the small group of wedding guests gathered at a table. It was nearing midnight, so Laura had taken Cooper and Lila back to the tower, but the rest of the guests stayed behind. Tony felt like as a parental figure, he should probably be sending Peter and Harley back as well. However, he knew that Peter and Harley often stayed up way past midnight playing video games (JARVIS always informed him _after_ the fact, rather than during), so they would probably be fine.

"I shall grab you all beer for refreshment!" Thor declared.

The group thanked the blonde haired Norse God.

"Let's celebrate!" Thor yelled, handing everyone at the table a beer, including Harley and Peter.

May looked horrified, so Tony stepped in. Even with Peter's ultra fast metabolism, he wasn't about to let an elementary school kid drink alcohol. Now, Tony wouldn't be surprised if Harley had tried some before, but under Tony's supervision, he would be getting none.

"Thor, they're 10," Tony admonished.

"I am almost 11," Peter added.

"I'm 11," Harley corrected.

"Oh, they're growing boys, they shall have two!" Thor proclaimed, grabbing two extra beers, and pushing them Peter and Harley's way.

"Thor! No!" Tony exclaimed, taking the beers away.

XXXXXXXXX

**August 10, 2012**

Tony smiled as he watched Peter put away three whole hamburgers, two large orders of fries, and a large coke. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest meal, but hey, it was the kid's birthday, he should be able to eat a gallon of butter if he so desired.

"Sorry Harley couldn't make it," Tony apologized. "I know it's already ten in the morning, but Harley would not get his butt out of bed. He insists he has Clinomania, but personally, I think he's just lazy."

"It's okay," Peter replied cheerfully. "I'm just glad that you could take me out today. May and I usually do something together, but she had work this morning."

"So, kid...I was looking at your new web shooter designs, and I thought we could add a few more combinations. What do you think of a taser web-" Tony began.

"Einstein, is that you?" A man who appeared to be in his twenties asked.

Tony noticed that Peter's gay demeanor from earlier had disappeared, as he sat in his chair, petrified.

"Hello? You deaf now, Einstein?" the man addressed Peter again.

Noticing Peter's obvious discomfort, Tony stepped in. "I don't know who the fuck you are, but seeing as my _son_ obviously hates you, and he hates nobody, you need to get your ass out of here," Tony said menacingly.

"Oh, come on! Pete and I are friends. We go way back, don't we Pete?" the man taunted.

Peter finally spoke up. "Please, just go away, Skip."

"Oh, not very friendly. Perhaps, Tony Stark here, has turned you into an arrogant little shit. You used to be so cooperative, back in the day. We had some good times, didn't we little Einstein?" Skip replied, putting his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Get your hand off of him, or I swear it'll be the last thing that you ever do," Tony threatened.

"Wow, touchy, touchy," Skip said sarcastically, but Tony could detect a flicker of fear. Skip slowly removed his hand, and began backing away. "See you around, Einstein!"

As soon as Skip left the restaurant, Peter burst into tears. Tony moved his chair closer to Peter's, and wrapped his arm around him. "Who was that?" Tony asked gently.

"No one," Peter muttered.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "You sure seemed like you knew him from somewhere," Tony pointed out.

"He's just...an old babysitter of mine," Peter replied, fiddling his hands. The poor kid looked so broken at that moment.

"And why were you so scared if he was 'just an old babysitter'?" Tony asked, not liking where this was going.

"Because he...he…" Peter muttered something incoherent.

"What was that?" Tony rubbed Tony's back soothingly.

"He...used to...touch me...and make me do things with him," Peter replied, looking at the ground as if he was ashamed.

"What?!" Tony exclaimed dangerously.

"I...didn't mean for it to happen, Mr Stark. I didn't want him to do it! I swear, Mr Stark, I'm not that bad. I tried to tell him to stop! I really did, please don't be mad at me," Peter sobbed, obviously mistakenly thinking that Tony's anger and disgust towards Skip was directed towards him.

"You're right, kid. You're not bad. You're really, really good. You're amazing, in fact. I'm glad you were able to open up about this. I could never be mad at you for something that was in no way, your fault. That man is sick and perverted, and he took advantage of a kid. I love you, no matter what, kid. You hear me?" Tony said fervently.

"Y-Yes," Peter sobbed again.

"Does your aunt know about this?" Tony asked.

"Y-Yeah, she does. That's why she didn't like you much at first, I guess she was just being cautious. You know, just in case your intentions weren't good. But...after she got to know you, that changed. When she and Uncle Ben found out, there was a trial. Skip was 18, so he got tried as an adult. Since I was a minor, they kept my name out of the papers. They sentenced him to ten years in prison. I don't know why he's out already," Peter answered.

 _Only ten years? I know non-violent drug dealers who've gotten longer sentences than that! And for marijuana, no less!_ Tony hugged the kid again, letting the kid ruin his expensive shirt with snot. In the other timeline, Peter had never told him about his past. Tony made a note to himself to have JARVIS dig up what he could on this 'Skip' fellow in the car on their way back, and make sure that somehow, he was put away for life. No one hurt his kid and got away with it, no one.

"Don't worry, kid. He's never going to hurt you, ever again. I promise you that. You won't ever have to worry about that bastard once I'm through with him," Tony responded ardently.

XXXXXXXXX

"SURPRISE!" a group chorused as Peter and Tony walked in. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETER!"

Tony was pleased to note that Peter's face lit up upon seeing everyone, even though he'd been a bit down, ever since Skip had walked in on their meal. All of the people who currently lived at the tower were in attendance, along with Happy and Ned. The latter of which, looked like he was about to wet his pants in excitement, most likely still geeking out about meeting the rest of the Avengers. Tony could definitely see how Peter and Ned were best friends.

"I'll be right back, Pete," Tony whispered into the kid's ear.

Peter nodded.

Tony gestured to May, and led her into his lab. "Did you know that Skip Wescott, Peter's old babysitter, has been released from prison? Apparently, he got out early on parole due to 'good behavior'."

"Yes," May admitted. "How did you know about that? Peter's name was kept out of all of his records for his privacy."

"The bastard showed up at the restaurant today," Tony informed May.

"I didn't tell Peter, because I didn't want to worry him. I've been working with a lawyer to get a restraining order, but it hasn't gone through yet. I've been such a bad aunt, I should've gotten that figured out before his release, but then Ben died, and…" May trailed off. "Oh, poor Pete. He must be terrified! I should've told him, but I didn't want to let him know about it until I got the legal stuff figured out. Especially after all he went through after Ben died, I couldn't have him go through more trauma..." May finished anxiously.

"Hey, hey. Don't worry about a restraining order. That bastard is going straight to prison. I had JARVIS hack into his computer, and he found child pornography. If that's not a parole violation, then I don't know what is. Plus, it is a crime in it of itself. I sent an anonymous tip to the police. If I have anything to do with it, he'll be put away for a long ass time. He won't hurt Peter again, I won't let him," Tony assured May.

"Thank you, Tony. For everything you've done for us," May replied gratefully, tears streaming down her face.

"Hey, Pete's a good kid. He's just been dealt a rough hand in life. Now, why don't we head back to the party. The kid's probably wondering where we are," Tony replied. "Don't worry about anything, really. I'll take care of it." _I have to protect Peter. I'm not letting anyone hurt him. Not again._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Tony chugged another cup of coffee before going over suit specs again in his lab. Natasha was currently trying to find clues on the location of Bucky Barnes, and JARVIS was helping him.

"JARVIS, any luck finding out the location of the Red Book?" Natasha asked.

"While I can't be certain, given the limited amount of information that you've provided me, I believe that the 'Red Book' you are looking for, is currently in the possession of a Hydra agent named Vasily Karpov," JARVIS answered.

"Karpov...I think I remember his name from the leaked SHIELD files…" Natasha muttered.

Where is Karpov now?" Tony asked.

"He is currently at his residence in Cleveland, Ohio," JARVIS informed them.

"Looks like we're taking a little trip to the midwest, Agent Romanoff."


End file.
